The Mark in the Lace
by Materia-Blade
Summary: Complete - A story that began with a lonely, broken, heart, but ended as a tale of honor, betrayal, and love outlasting all that is, was, or ever will be... Sequel to So Be It A Ranma x Sailor Moon x Wheel of Time crossover.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Ranma ½, Wheel of Time, or Sailor Moon. They belong to Rimuko Rumiko Takahashi, Robert Jordan, and Naoko Takeuchi respectively.

* * *

**The Mark in the Lace**

* * *

**Prologue**

**

* * *

**

_So shall the dancer of the flames burn her enternal mark into the lace of the ages..._

_Author Unknown _**  
**

* * *

The darkness surrounded her in seclusion. Her mother was on the other side of the world at the moment, most likely griping to herself. Either that or having one of her usual fits, about something or another. 

She concentrated, her eyes closed, upon the energy which lay within her. She was in complete darkness , trying to make herself fall into a state of thoughtlessness. Her goal was coming closer. Her concentration, near perfect. That state of perfection which only greeted her in that state of complete calm came upon her.

Blazing with brilliance and power, her yellow-gold aura enveloped her. It blazed solidly around her, making her seem encased in a oval of light. The light reflected off the floor, revealing the true shade of grey stone-like ground. Her only weapon to ward off the dark of her frightening world enshrouded her in luminescence.

She had finally grasped how to ward off the darkness on her own. Her mother had been teaching her for as long as she could remember, raising her skill, strength and mental capacity.

It was funny. Her mother had watched her grow for only sixteen years and now she was almost five inches taller than the immortal woman. Perhaps it was more ironic than funny. The shorter red-head sure complained about it often.

"Mom!" she shouted, glanced to her left across the world. There was quite a distance between them but both of them were easily able to see the other. Their eyes had grown accustomed to the dark. Plus, Ranma had the book open. She was probably half a kilometer away but they could always hear each other perfectly in here. There was no other noise so that made it easy to hear for long distances.

The world wasn't too big anyways. It was only about a twenty minute walk from one side to the other. Completely spherical, the outer wall enclosed them in the world. And Keika knew, even through all of her mother's fantastic stories, that this was all that existed.

Ranma's head turned immediately as she looked at her daughter. "Hnn… yeah, Keika?" She murmured. Her morbid tone did not go unnoticed by her daughter. Keika could lie better than she could. Ranma knew keeping her emotions hidden was impossible. The young girl knew and read Ranma like a book. Fortunately, Ranma could do the same with Keika.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Keika asked warily. Her mother didn't get… what was a good word for it? depressed like this very often.

Ranma sighed; no answer was good enough to give. She couldn't tell her daughter that this was the anniversary of her mother's death. Especially since the girl could never understand that, as Ranma was her mother.

"Nothing Keika. I'm… just remembering." Ranma replied. She looked at her daughter as she said the last words, to find the girl mouthing them.

"I say it that often?" Ranma asked, more cheerfully. Her daughter was making fun of her.

"Yes." Keika replied firmly.

Ranma smiled. She loved her daughter more than anything in the world. Everything that Keika was, made Ranma happy. She kept Ranma's insanity at bay. The insanity of the gut wrenching screams that would rise in her throat, born from memories of the day Machin Shin became a terror. The memories of centuries and millennia of nothing but darkness and nightmares… Millennia of thinking of anything to make herself go on. Figures in darkness. Forgetting everyone she knew and not being able to do anything about it… Akane… dying in her arms… Yes… Keika kept her alive. It was possible that the girl, her daughter, made her forget all these horrible things.

But that didn't matter anymore. She could move on now… She gave Ranma hope and let her know that there was still something to stay alive for.

"Lamenting an old boyfriend, Mama?" Keika joked cheerily, in a way that was meant to lighten the mood.

Ranma chuckled half-heartedly at her daughter and replied, "No. Just thinking about a tomboy I knew once."

But on this day, Ranma couldn't forget. She didn't think she ever would.

Keika looked curious. She stared at her mother, wanting more of this story. Her mother had millions of them.

"Who mom?" She asked. Her bright eyes glowed with the childlike curiosity that always crossed them when hearing some of her mother's fairy tales in the world of the book.

Ranma smiled, and as soon as she did, Keika frowned. Keika knew that smile as well as she knew her every story that Ranma told her was just a fairy tale. This smile of Ranma's meant that this story was for another day.

"Fine fine. I'll ask some other day." Keika said before Ranma could say a word.

Ranma's smile grew. Her daughter knew her too well.

"Sorry, Keika." Ranma replied.

Keika shook her head. "It's ok. I know how you hate storytelling."

It was a joke. Ranma loved story telling. Keika was just sick of listening to stories. Well, no that wasn't true. She wasn't sick of the stories. Matter of fact, she loved the stories. But she dreamed of… more. She wanted to see these things, feel these places, and breathe the lightened air which her mother spoke of, and the book showed her

But, in the end, fantasy was fantasy. She was born here. She would live here, and Keika could only assume that one day, she would die here. It was all she had ever known.

"So what are we doing today?" Keika asked.

"I'm gonna teach you something new today." Ranma stated offhandedly. She discarded her morbid tone and began to look upward… more lighthearted.

Keika nodded. Her mother was _close_ to back to normal. While… not as good as she could hope, it wasn't the worst. This was a well known phrase from her mother. She taught Keika something new almost everyday. Nine times out of ten it was related to martial arts. Today was no different.

As they both fell into a ready position to begin the spar that always followed this comment, something different happened.

Ranma lashed out at the uncharacteristically sloppy guard put up by her daughter, spinning in the air to slam her right foot directly into her daughter's solar plexus.

Keika saw the kick coming and moved to dodge. Without warning, a surge of pain washed through her body. It grinded through her bones causing her a torment she had never experienced before. Her arms locked in place as if some unknown force had taken her blood vessels and began twisting them furiously around every bone she owned. The unimaginable pain stole all her years of training in an instant, and she was powerless to avoid Ranma's kick. When it came, she didn't even feel it, so great was her other pain. But she did not scream. She couldn't. Her jaw hurt too much.

Keika flew back and banged her back into the edge of the world. She bounced off the wall like a rag doll and slumped to the ground. She lay there with her face pressed into the frozen floor, against the wall that signified the end of the world, trying to scream. Her long hair lay covering her. Had she been "normal" she would have been grateful for the warmth it provided her body with.

Meanwhile, Ranma knew something was wrong the instant her foot touched her daughter. That couldn't happen. Her daughter couldn't be so weak! Sixteen years and that was what she had to show for it? Ranma turned, hoping to find that her daughter had taken the hit purposely to prepare a great counter. Ranma was disappointed. When she looked around, she found her daughter laying in shame and defeat against the edge of the world.

For a moment, Ranma couldn't help appraise her, physically. The girl was the epitome of beauty. Keika looked much like Ranma herself, and at the same time, was as tall as Akane had been. Her hair was down to her calves, covering her like a blanket when she wished it to, in a way that was reminiscent of some purple haired girl Ranma was on the verge of remembering. Her blue-tinted eyes accentuated the red hair just as Ranma's did.

She was naked, though. Ranma herself still had the same traveling cloak, sword, pack, and several other sets of clothing. While they fit Keika now, she never wore them. When she had been younger there had been no way for her to wear clothing that big so she had gone naked. It's what she had always done. No reason to change it just because she could.

Something was wrong. She _knew_ her daughter was worth more skill than that. She rushed to her side and picked her up, wrapping her arm around the girl only to find that Keika's muscles were locked, tightly.

"Keika? What's wrong?" She asked. Keika looked up into her mother's concern ridden eyes. For a moment, the scalding pain eased Keika let her muscles relax for just a moment. Abruptly, the torture returned twice as strong mere seconds later.

"What's going on?" Keika thought, desperately. Never had she felt pain like this before. Beneath her beautiful skin, fire burned through her blood. It tore through her. Her heart and brain and lungs seethed with searing sharp agony. It tormented her with the feel of twisting a gnawing her insides. Finally she could stand it no longer. Through the tremors clenching her throat she screamed out her pain, doing nothing but causing more still. Her shrill scream was cut short by the now intolerable gut churning knives stabbing and twisting her insides. She knew injury. She knew everything there was to know about injury. But this made death seem appealing.

"Mama… I'm s-scared." She whispered hoarsely. Fear clutched her bones in a death grip.

Suddenly, the pain coalesced, focusing all on one point. Her chest, directly between her breasts. She gasped for a moment of respite as the pain left her throat and brain, allowing her to breathe. Her muscles unlocked getting her out of her board like state. Desperately, she grabbed at her solar plexus, pressing on her rib cage, trying desperately to quell the hurt which dwelled just beneath her skin.

"Keika?" Ranma repeated, more worried. She didn't know what to do! A heart attack? Seizure? Light! What could she do? "Keika! _Keika!_" She cried. Ranma held Keika with one arm behind her back raising her upper body and the rest sitting on the hard floor.

"Stooooop!" She wailed piteously. She began clawing at the center of her chest. Scratching it like a feral cat. Her nails carved her skin open like a knife through butter. Blood spewed out.

"Keika! Stop! _Stop!_" Ranma screamed to no avail. She used her other arm and latched on to Keika's hands ferociously, holding both the flailing limbs at the wrist with her left hand.

Instantly, the situation changed. In a tremendous display of strength Keika's hands shot down to her bloody chest, but she didn't claw at it. Light erupted from under he hands. So bright that a blinded Ranma had no choice but to look away, the pure and holy form of this white light seemed to ease the pain of Keika somewhat.

"What's happening t-to me? M-Momma? P-Please…! Help Me!" A terrified Keika screamed. "P-please, make it stop! Momma!" Her tear ridden eyes sought the comfort of normalcy. Staring at her mother longingly, the pain decreased, ever so slowly. Even so, Keika's hands remained glued to her chest.

"I… I'm trying, girl!" Ranma replied, frustrated. Every time she looked at her daughter, the light beneath Keika's hands blinded her.

Abruptly as it had come, the pain ceased all together, though the light did not. "Gah!" Keika sighed, relieved as the pain finally washed away from her tired and now sweating body.

And in her hand, Keika felt something. From her skin, within her, it bubbled out. Like when ki would bubble up from her hand and into her open palm. Or when someone would burst forth from the water as shown in the book whenever Setuma went swimming. Or that commercial he watched where the Visene water droplet soaked into the eye. Only… backwards and on her chest.

It was soft at first, gushing out of her own, somehow malleable skin, in her soft hand. She looked down between her breasts and was blinded by the light she was producing. She threw her head back and looked away from the sun impersonation on her chest, trying to save her eyes from the blindness that it induced.

And then, the light too, was gone. She moved her hand from her chest, ever so slowly, flinching in expectation of the pain to return.

_"A pen."_ Her mind told her.

Words. Words entered her mind. They wracked her brain, filling her with a numbness and lack of comprehension. These words. She had to say them! To utter them! Get them out! Anything!

_"Pluto, Planet Power, Make Up!"_

The light engulfed all, and the last thing Keika heard before she fainted was her mother screaming her name…

* * *

"My… my.. Little girl. How could… how could you do this to my… little girl?" Minako's mother, Kareko, screamed. 

Usagi's head faced downward. "She died defending me and the people of this planet. I… I don't know how I can ever apologize enough for this… I'm… so sorry, Mrs. Aino."

Her senshi behind her held solemn faces. Though they weren't masked, it had become obvious who they were. With the announcement of Sailor Moon being Usagi, their identities had become easily discernable. All of her closest friends. And that meant… her little girl. Her… "sniff" her…

_"Minako!"_ Kareko wailed. She dived onto the girl's stiff, electrified body. Kareko hugged the dead girl like a lifesaver, refusing to let go. She wailed with abandon, not caring who or what saw her. Her daughter. The light of her world. Love made human. Not only, physically but literally even as the Senshi of Love itself! How could this have happened? How…? How could… her daughter… die? "No… no, no, no…" She murmured over and over again.

Usagi could do nothing. She had to be cool. She had to be hard if she wanted to be strong enough to do what was right.

But what was "right" here? A hard exterior? A loving attitude? How did she deal with the death of a loved one? How had her mother dealt? She couldn't remember… But… her mind… her heart told her… that this _didn't _require a hard exterior she had become so used to. What was required here was comfort. What was best here… was the Bunny of the Moon. And not Neo Queen Serenity.

"Mrs. Aino" Was all Usagi could say.

Kareko left Minako's body and embraced Usagi tightly in a death grip. "My daughter… my… Minako… why… why couldn't you protect her? Why…? Why…" The distraught woman wept.

"I… I did my best… ma'am. I'm n-not perfect. But I tried the hardest and… we won… the… entire world was saved." Usagi panned. Her voice weakened with every word and her words were not consoling. They only drove the woman to anger.

"W-we did… we did everything we could! We did-"

"_This_ is what you call _victory_?" The woman snapped suddenly, pulling the shocked Usagi away from her. "Get out of my house." She said coldly. "Leave me alone. Leave me alone! You pathetic… excuse for a _defender_ of anything!"

Usagi gulped with guilt and self hatred. Her eyes watered and she nodded. "I… l-loved her like a sister… Mrs. Aino." Usagi whispered. She walked past the others of the group and through the door slowly. They followed behind without a word, leaving several tears to adorn the hardwood floor. Once they were outside Usagi slumped to the ground against the door.

"Usagi…?" Hotaru questioned.

Usagi looked up with tear-strained eyes and said, "A-am I… that bad? I did my best… I did… my best didn't I? I'm… sorry, I'm… It's… It's all my fau-"

"Usagi!" Rei exclaimed, interrupting the blond princess. "Usagi, you are not at fault here! Minako knew what could happen! We all did! Setsuna had to be stopped or the world as we know it, could have come to an end! You had no choice! Don't you dare go blaming yourself for this!"

After it was all said and done, all of them felt horrible.

Hotaru limped about clutching her staff even in her un-transformed stated, for support. While not physically damaged much, all the healing she had gone through after the battle was over had brought her almost to her knees itself.

Rei felt weak in the legs as well. A deep scar lay about her left eye slanting she thought the mark might never heal fully. Other cuts lay around her, such as the long gash in her side. It had been a possibly fatal wound, and thereby was one of the first healed by Hotaru.

Makoto's arm was still twisted out of place, hanging limply at her side. Hotaru couldn't heal what was not broken, so Jupiter had no choice but to wait till she could pop it back into place. She had sustained the least physical damage, save for Hotaru. But she was so exhausted from healing that it appeared Hotaru might had endured the worst!

Ami was in an entirely different league. None of her injuries had been fatal, but all had been to the worst places. She sported two black eyes from viscous fists. Her hair had been yanked from her scalp in no less than three places, causing the un-natural and impossibly close to ugly look she now wore. Her leg had been broken, and thus healed by Hotaru. Her lips were fat and bloodied as well.

As the person of the team to analyze weaknesses of opponents, Setsuna had seen fit to deal with her the fastest. The second after Akane had been… disposed of… Setsuna had turned Ami into a human punching bag.

And this wasn't the worst of it. The injuries, Ami could deal with. Her hair would heal in time… Her black and blue eyes would fade, and her lips would return to their original beauty… but one thing that she could never get back… was the Mercury computer. Her most valuable possession, the thing which gave her the ability to aid the team the most, had been destroyed.

At the end of it, after Pluto was gone and it was all said and done, though, Usagi had been in the most pain by far. She hadn't even noticed. Her wings being physically removed had hurt more than she could believe. So much that the slight pain of having her left arm removed from her body hadn't been even _noticed_! And still she had, had the power to stop Pluto!

They all stood their in their normal clothes. Usagi had bruises everywhere that could not be healed by the worn out Senshi of Saturn. Her eyes drooped and glistened with the substance of unshed tears. Her arms were covered in scars and there were two long marks down her back, where the healing for her wings had occurred.

"I-I should have tried harder!" Usagi shouted back, looking up at Rei. "Because I was weak, we lost Ranma, Akane, _and_ the little baby! Because I was weak, Neptune and Sailor V…" Makoto stepped forward and shook the princess up by grabbing her collar harshly. "Are in a better place. Because you tried your best, the rest of us aren't dead, and Pluto is no longer around to destroy everything we've fought for!" She finished.

"What? Crystal Tokyo?" Usagi replied bitterly.

"Love, Justice, and Peace," Ami provided, "Are all upheld." Usagi turned to the blue haired girl angrily and glared. "But! My own daughter is gone! Faded away into nothing right in front of my own eyes! What… what am I going to do now? Go on like I have been?"

"Your daughter was from the future. The one who brought her here died. That could mean any number of things, Usagi! The future is not something to be planned! She shouldn't have been here anyway! You did the _right_ thing! Pluto had to be stopped! She _had_ to be!" Hotaru piped in. "I… I'm gonna miss… Usa-chan but… but that can't be helped! She'll be here someday. And… as long as you remember that, there's nothing to worry about!"

Usagi sniffed. "I'm… not sure… if I can keep on… doing this." Usagi said plainly.

"Usagi. I believe in you. You're our princess. I'd give my life for you. As would have Venus as she proved. And Michiru. I believe in you." Ami said.

"Me too!" Hotaru exclaimed.

"Same here!" Makoto stated.

"I know you'll do the right thing, no matter what… Usagi. You've got no right to be all downhearted like this. It's just not you! So wake up! How do you want to honor their sacrifice? Self-hatred and doubt, or with confidence like you used to have?" Rei exclaimed, stepping up to Usagi as Jupiter backed off.

"Rei-chan…?" Usagi questioned. She was floored not only by Rei's question, but the emotion she put into it. So much so that simple responses became unutterable.

"You're our princess, Usagi. And one day, you'll be queen. I know that scares you." Rei said, confusing the rest of the Senshi. "But don't worry. We'll always be here for you. And we'll always remember who you are now. So lets make this little while we have, something worth remembering, ok?"

Usagi's wet and glistening eyes let lose more of the tears held within them.

"Mmm… Mmhmm." Usagi replied, stuttering through her tears. "Y-you're right. I… I"  
The Senshi looked at Usagi. Even though she wasn't perfect, she was their princess. All of them knew they would follow her to whatever end awaited them. They just hoped that that end was one of simple old age.

"W-we still gotta find… find Michiru's family…" Moon stuttered through her tears. "A… And Akane's…"

Hotaru was uncertain. Had Michiru had family other than herself and Haruka?

Hotaru was surprised at her own strength. She had cried at Michiru's death. Her surrogate mother loved her more than any other ever had. But… she was strong. She could go on. She had known the possible consequences of fighting Setsuna-ma-, Setsuna. But what the woman had been doing was wrong. So she had to move on. She had to for her princess's sake.

Perhaps she was getting a little older… She'd lost all three of her parents in one day and… still managed to fight evil.

"Where am I, gonna stay… Usagi?" Hotaru asked the still teary-eyed girl in a strong tone, weakened only by the lack of energy in her small body.

For once, Usagi's answer was firm and definite. "With me. I'll… I'll take care of you… Hotaru."

The rest of the Senshi gulped. Usagi truly had changed. It was as if… as if she were a mother. She probably would end up being one to Hotaru.

It was incredible. How everything had changed. Their simple, easy life of regular monster killing and youma slaying, had drastically transformed into a tangled web of lies and betrayal. But the battle was over and the war was won… and now everything was different.

It was only the inners now. The outers… were no more save for Hotaru. Now they were lost until the pool of life granted them another soul with the power of their respective planets. Battles with Youma and demons in the future would be difficult…  
They had prevailed though. In the end, as always, the right had beaten the wrong. The traitor was gone for good it seemed. Peace was restored and hopefully could be maintained for quite some time…

Usagi knew better though. Setsuna was out there. But next time, when the demented soul that infested the green-haired woman's body returned, She would be ready.

This time, no one would be lost.

This time… good would suffer no casualties.

* * *

**End Prologue**

* * *

A Prologue to fit the continuation of "So Be It" if I do say so myself. 

I"m BACK!

As always special thanks to anyone who reviews me and an even specialer thanks to Silence-Darkness for prereading again. (Thanks Silence!)

Heh, **Love you Chels! Now n' fr'ever. **

Heh heh... you people want more don't ya? **Reviews** make me **write faster** u know!


	2. A Day of Tears

_"She raised me you know? Was my mom… em madera. She was flame itself. A coarse wildfire, though I didn't know it until that day two years ago. She saved my life twice, and the life of my love, who she hated, with good reason. I'd say she deserves her peace, as do the Dragonsworn. Please… Ryoga… you have to let this war go…"_

_Keika Saotome,  
Bearer of the Flames,  
Senshi of Time,  
Supreme Court of America,  
Jan. 22nd, 0002 am._

_

* * *

_

**Chapter One: A Day of Tears**

**

* * *

**

"Ryoga." Luna scolded in a parental tone. "I understand how you feel about her, but it's time you let it go! You've told me yourself a hundred times how much they love each other!"

Ryoga looked at the little cat, harshly. "I can't help it! I just… can't abandon her! What if Ranma… screws up and then…"

Luna shook her feline head exasperatedly and interrupted, "If it feels wrong to do so, as you say, then you shouldn't interfere." Luna advised. "I've presided over many a young person and from the way you speak, both Ranma and Akane deserve a little respite."

Anger boiled on Ryoga's face but it wasn't like he could attack the cat. "Oh, fine!" He uttered.

It was an unusual friendship that Ryoga had with the Luna. It had started with the travels. About the time Ryoga ended up in Paris they had begun to get along. Luna had listened to Ryoga's constant badgering of Ranma and had asked for the story in her ever-patient manner.

Ryoga had relented, telling his life story, and by proxy the life story of Ranma and Akane. The black cat, after having heard the story, firmly insisted that ninety percent of Ryoga's past actions against both Ranma and Akane were wrong.

"Odd that we're still friends," Ryoga had thought.

Artemis still edged around him but, they no longer had any trouble talking to each other, either. Ryoga and the white cat were not quite friends yet… but acquaintances at least.

"You'll thank me someday, young man. I can bet you on it." Luna insisted.

Ryoga was in a good mood. A _humorous_ mood if he was actually capable of it. After a moment of silence, he turned to her and smirked. "Fifty bucks."

"Hundred and you have a deal." Luna replied instantly. Ryoga blanched and wondered idly where a cat got money?

Suddenly the warp bubble appeared. A hole, carved into the very root of reality; that's how Luna described it, anyway. Now, though, Ryoga noticed it. He couldn't actually see reality bent and sliced through as the cats seemed to be able to, but he could _feel_ it. He felt… warm. It wasn't a comforting warm either. It was a sickening sort of sweaty, hot feeling similar to having the flu and being under three-too-many blankets. Matter of fact, Ryoga preferred not knowing what it was. Back then, he had simply gone into a mad rage every time he teleported like this. Now that he knew what it was, he was much more calm about it. Calm enough to feel the maddening, nameless, and putrid fire burning within him.

He walked forward into his invisible creation. The cats followed, bored. They'd seen the square, black hole a hundred times now. It had amazed them the first few times, but now it was rather unspectacular.

The second they stepped through the structure disappeared. Ryoga let out a sigh of relief as the sickness left his body. He breathed fresh air. Dallas, Texas in the states was rather smoky and he was glad to have left it.

"Wh-what are you doing? You _pervert!_" screamed a horrified young woman.

Screams were heard everywhere all of a sudden. Ryoga's ears were blasted by the screams of pervert, peeping tom, and several other choice accusations. "I-I'm really sorry! I j-just got lost and-" Ryoga shouted.

The cats were on his backpack, giggling in unquenchable hysteria.

Ryoga turned his head and looked at the two laughing cats sharply. "Oh thanks! Real nice of you!"

The cats looked at their human companion and let out simple and innocent "meows."

With that, Ryoga realized that a mob of half naked women was beginning to mobilize. Their choice of weapons was mops, mallets, brooms, pans, and hundreds of other appliances not known to the male mind.

Ryoga turned to the exit and dashed forward at a blazingly fast speed. The mob didn't even have time to see him disappear. The cats on his backpack, clung on for dear life as he dashed out of the bathhouse entrance. He ignored the random stares of the register, manager and several customers as he ran out the building. The mob of half naked women followed him only to the exit of the bath house door. "And stay out! Dirty bastard!" Ryoga distinctly heard before the door to the building slammed shut on him.

Luna and Artemis moved from their shaky positions on his backpack onto his left and right shoulders, respectively.

"Well, where are we this time?" Artemis asked, sardonically.

Looking around for a moment, Ryoga realized that most of the signs were in a legible language. Since Ryoga knew almost twenty, that didn't mean much. They kind of blurred together after a while.

"We're in Japan!" Luna exclaimed excitedly. "The signs are in Japanese! Look!"

A feline paw extended towards a sign that, upon close inspection, did have Japanese Kanji on it. He walked towards it slowly but was suddenly interrupted. "Halt, knave!" Came the distinct words of someone Ryoga would rather not deal with. "Oh no…" Ryoga muttered in an annoyed tone.

The cats looked at the forlorn and agitated face of Ryoga and then turned back to the person who called him. "Kuno…" Ryoga mumbled.

* * *

"Y-you're back! Wh-where is Akane? Keika? And… and my s-son-in-law?" Soun asked looking at their downtrodden faces. 

The Senshi stood in the living room of the Tendo household. Nabiki, Kasumi, and Soun were all present. All of them, even Kasumi, were glaring at the intruders.

"We're… sorry… Mr. Tendo…" Was all Usagi could say. She had gone over how this would play out hundreds of times. She tried again and again to find a way to explain how Akane, Ranma, and Keika were all… dead or gone. The only one that she had come up with that might lower the Tendo's anger was showing them what she had looked like after the battle was over.

But that would mean ripping out her arm and tearing off her newly re-grown wings again. That idea was basically thrown in the trash.

They had finally resolved to simply tell the truth, and hope to god that the Tendo's were a forgiving family.

"There are less of you now…" Soun said sagely.

Usagi nodded and replied, "Yes. Several of ours died… as well." Her eyes were watering as she looked into Mr. Tendo's own. "Pluto… killed them… and Akane, but…"

"Sh-she's… dead? My daughter is…"

"W-we… tried our best… Mr. Tendo…" Mars muttered, despondently. "But… she was too strong and we couldn't do… anything to stop her."

"Yet you are here now! My little baby girl is dead and you stand here at my doorstep! How _dare_ you!" Soun cried as he somehow found a way around his tears and grief. He reared back and threw his fist directly for Sailor Moon's face.

It wasn't fast enough. Jupiter caught it, mid thrust. "It's not her fault." Jupiter said calmly. "It's none of our faults. Usagi's daughter died too!"

Usagi sniffed and her eyes became teary. More filled with water than they had been.

"Y-you had a daughter? But… you're just a young girl!" Kasumi cried surprised, her glare disappearing.

Sailor Moon looked down. "She was my daughter. Carrot-top… Chibi-Usa. Oh damn… how am I going to tell Mamoru?" she said to herself suddenly.

Nabiki stood. She had been watching in silence. She saw Usagi's emotion for the truth it was, but she could care less. They had lied to her before. They'd been… able to trick her before. They were lying again.

"Where is Akane?" She asked coldly. "One of you told me Ranma was dead, and he was alive. So I can't believe you. Where is my sister?"

"She… is… her body is… there." Usagi choked through her tears, pointing at the door.

Cold fear gripped Nabiki's heart. A… body? Her sister's… body! No! It couldn't be! It _couldn't_ be!

They walked outside, slowly, mustering courage with each step. There, in the Tendo courtyard, stood Sailor Mercury. Just above her outstretched hands floated a dark blue capsule large enough to fit a body in it. It looked like a large pill, thought it glowed with the unearthly neon hue of Mercury's uniform. Inside lay Akane, dressed in a beautiful white dress. Her hair was no longer the frazzled, electrocuted flare that it had been when she died. It had been combed back to perfection. She lay calmly, her eyes closed. Truth be told, she looked beautiful.

"Akane! _Akane!_" Soun cried. He rushed forward and looked at the girl in the transparent globe, being held at his chest level.

Mercury handed the form too him and it floated above his hands just as it had hers. He slumped to his knees… defeated in all sense of the word.

"Ak... Aka-Akane-chan..." he blubbered as his tears ran freely from his face.

Behind them, Nabiki could see the body just as well as her father. Akane's eyes closed… beautiful. Tears came to her eyes for the first time since her mothers death. She latched on to her older sister, who's eyes were just as wet as her own.

Kasumi held Nabiki and both cried on the other's shoulder for hours it seemed.

Usagi slowly made her way forward to the kneeling man. "I… I'm sorry." She muttered lamely from behind him. She tried to come up with a way to ease the man's suffering but he found one first.

He lay Akane on the ground in front of him, and turned away from her, grasping the surprised blonde in a fierce hug. "She was my daughter!" He shouted at no one.

She embraced him, after she got over her initial shock. More hours passed as he cried rivers onto her shoulder. All she could do was mutter, "I'm sorry," "I know how you feel," and other such consoling words as a few tears slid down her own cheeks.

The other Senshi left slowly, one by one, first Jupiter, then Mars, then Saturn, and finally Mercury, until only Moon was left.

Slowly Kasumi walked an overly emotional Nabiki into the house. "I don't wanna see her Kasumi! I don't want to! Not again!" Nabiki cried pathetically, while Kasumi just held her.

Moon left the embrace of Soun cautiously. "I… I have some good news…" Usagi stuttered.

"W-what?" Soun replied dejectedly as he parted from the younger girl's embrace.

"Ranma." Usagi said simply. "He's alive. And… and your granddaughter is… we think she is with him."

"Keika!" Soun exclaimed. "She's… she's alive? And Ranma? Why didn't he protect Akane?"

Usagi motioned with her hands for him to calm down.

"He did his best. And he has to suffer for it. I have no guarantees. They were sent… to another world. I don't know where but… they were. They may come home some day. I don't know how to get them back but… I'll try, Mr. Tendo." The girl told him.

Soun nodded, trying to hold back his tears. "I'll… expect that." He turned, lifted the capsule of energy which held his daughter's corpse, and began walking back towards his home. "Please leave… unless it's good news… don't c-come back."

Usagi nodded. "There will be good news someday Mr. Tendo. I promise."

Soun said nothing as he entered the house and closed the door. A trail of tears caressed the sidewalk.

* * *

Ranma crept up to the unconscious form of her daughter. She moved very slowly. The girl, Ranma's daughter, was dressed in the same clothing as her arch-nemesis had been sixteen years ago. 

Ranma moved up to look at Keika's face. Her face was clear as it always was. Pluto, the old Pluto that is, didn't seem to have a face. It had blurred and twisted, always accentuating her beauty but never being… legible enough to see.

Keika looked just like she should, though. No blurred face or anything. Just a girl in a beautiful, black-and-white fuku.

Her long hair, unchanged, blanketed her like a goddess, still reminiscent of the purple-haired girl Ranma couldn't remember. Keika's eyes fluttered.

"Keika!" Ranma exclaimed, excitedly. "Mama… wha… what's goin' on?" Keika asked strangely. Her eyes darted. Left, right, left, up, down. Flitting randomly in a terrified dance with the darkness. Her arms flailed as if she were looking for something that wasn't there.

Ranma pulled her daughter close. She sat and brought the girl's torso up to her and hugged the terrified girl.

"It's okay now, little one. Mama has you. Everything will be alright." Ranma cooed lovingly. "You're safe now. It was nothing." Slowly Ranma lay Keika down. Her arms calmed; her frantic insanity slowed as she lay her head on the cold stone. With a grace born from experience, Ranma set about comforting the keeper of her sanity.

"Mama, what happened to me?" Keika asked weakly. Her chest burned like fire. What had happened there? Why did it feel like… Keika reached out to her chest between her breasts and found them… covered. She looked down and saw the once white fuku. Between her breast was nothing but bloody fabric.

"Mom, aaagh! Wh-what happened to my… to my…?" Keika stuttered as she rose defiantly.

Ranma's firm hand gripped her daughter's arm and pulled the girl back to the ground, and then gently lay down her head on the stone.

"You've got to lay down. You scratched yourself up pretty good here." Ranma said. She took her hand and placed it at the top of the bloodied fuku, right on her daughter's neck. She grasped the fabric on both sides obviously rubbing a bit of Keika's skin when she winced and moaned in miniscule pain.

A loud _"riiip"_ echoed through the world as Keika heard the sound of fabric being ripped straight down from the middle. She jumped, more in shock than pain. This was nothing compared to earlier but it still hurt when the soggy fabric was ripped away. It exposed her chest perfectly to her still somewhat frantic eyes.

"By god, Keika!" Ranma exclaimed.

Blood truly _was_ gushing everywhere. Claw marks from Keika's fingernails lined the area of her chest from one breast to the other. Skin peeled up around the gashes causing the only pain Keika was in now.

"Mom?" Keika said, finally coherent enough to be able to shirk the depending, childish voice she had been using. She reached up to her chest area and felt the bloody wounds tentatively. "Fuuck…" She panned. "Wh-what happened to me"  
Ranma breathed in relief. Keika was alright. Seeing the wounds, they looked painful beyond reason at first glance; they didn't to Ranma's experienced eye. She could tell that they were simply minor cuts. They would likely heal in four to seven days… Knowing her daughter, two and a half.

"Something… happened to you Keika. I don't know what but I'm pretty sure you just be- uh… became… Pluto." Ranma said, not knowing how her daughter would react to this.

"_What?_" Keika exclaimed. "I'm… The one that supposedly locked us in here? The son of a bitch? No way!" Keika sat up angrily, her pain forgotten.

'What is up with her language lately?' Ranma thought absently. It was alright. She was raised basically by Setuma's way of life. The man cursed more often than that yakuza leader she'd lived through once… Ikuminaro Sutski, she thought his name was.

"No, No! You… you got her powers I think… You see… they're what's keeping ya alive… it's not the magic that's evil. It's the person who used it…" Ranma stuttered. _'I hope'_

Without warning Keika began to hack and cough loudly. Her loss of breath and coughs echoed around the world like a note on a harp, reverberating many times over.

"You ok?" Ranma asked after she slowed down a moment.

"Y-yeah." Keika replied, unsteadily as she looked up. The blood was trailing down her chest and falling onto her stomach.

"Come on." Ranma said in a cheery tone. "Lets get you cleaned up, aiji semai."

Keika grumbled under her breath, "I'm not a "small child," damn it. I'm taller than you are!" She groaned as she pulled herself to her feet slowly. "Mom, I'm itchy." She complained.

Ranma laughed with a sadistic hint to it. "Well you would be, aiji. Putting on clothes after sixteen years of nudism will do that."

Keika's grumbling grew louder.

Ranma smiled and turned to her daughter. In a rare moment of clarity, Ranma said straightly, "I'm glad you're ok, my beloved daughter."

Keika was struck by the sentiment. Not knowing how to respond, she uttered lamely, "Th-thank you, mom."

Ranma knew she had changed a lot in the past sixteen years. She wasn't exactly normal by a long shot either but… she wasn't insane. And she thought she was a good parent too.

* * *

Halcyon lay on her soft bed. It was late at night and she was just going to sleep. It had been a long day.  
'I hope Papa's ok.." She thought. 

It was a cold night, though she'd felt colder. On the moon that meant thirty five below zero. Halcyon was only slightly chilled though as she had lived in these frozen conditions all her life. A long-sleeved shirt graced her body and a pair of fabric pants covered her legs beneath the rather thin blanket.

The moon had only been terraformed thirty seven years ago but it was still rather young and technology wasn't quite like it had been on great planets such as Venus and Mercury. Especially since the soldiers were hogging all of the living quarters and stuffing civilians out in these poorly crafted shelters.

"At least they have windows…" She thought bleakly.

Without warning an enormous bang wracked Halcyon's eardrums. Her bed flipped up and took her with it. She flew forward, propelled like a dart and slammed into the glass window. The window burst into thousands of pieces flying out onto the rocky terrain of the moon as Halcyon fell down to the floor.

She landed and yelped. Glass sliced into her forehead and where she had hit the window and it laced through her right shoulder, leg and hip.

"Ah, ahh…" She winced. It didn't hurt that bad. She was harder than rock, colder than ice. She could handle pain, if anything. It had been all she had ever known. The pain of just living on this planet had prepared her for something as simple as glass. Yet still she lay here as a civilian, unable to fight with her father and brother.

"D-damn…" She murmured. "Th-that stings."

She hobbled to her feet. No sleep tonight. The enemy had attacked the civilians. The scum. How could they do this? Damn Martians and Saturnites… the bastards were heartless and cruel monsters.

She limped slowly. There was the door. Three steps… two… one. She entered it and promptly vomited.

Her mother's torched, black-charred body lay facing her on the floor. An arm, probably some one else's, lay beside it; other bloodied limbs lay all around the room. Her sister lay there as well. They were easily discernable. Her family… they were all dead.

Hard as she might be, her exterior melted.

"Mother!" She screamed, terrified.

She knelt down next to the once-beautiful blond-haired form of her mother. She didn't deserve this! She was, she couldn't…

"No! _Momma!_"

Halcyon's screams echoed long into the night; her screams terrified the other civilians more than the explosions. More than the fact that the roof on the shelter had been blown away.

Halcyon knew now that the war had finally reached the moon. And her… her mother… her sister… they were among the first casualties.

Hours and hours later Halcyon's tears finally slowed. Exhaustion was claiming her and she knew that the bombs echoing around her wouldn't miss her forever. She stood, but fell back to the ground, tiredly. What was happening? She was… she was…

The girl slumped to the ground.

Darkness...

* * *

Usagi woke with tears in her eyes. That wasn't her average dream; Halcyon wasn't her past self at all! It was… who was it? She couldn't tell. God… the girl's parents…. Were dead. 

Usagi didn't know what she would do if the same happened to her. It was so realistic. Could it have just been a normal… nightmare? No… surely not.

Memories had become commonplace to Usagi. They were as common as ice cream, now. Two days previous she had remembered all about Silver Millennium military tactics, strategies and training for space-based battle. Not to mention several of the battles the tactics had been used in during Serenity's reign.

Also she had remembered, not too long after the battle on Pluto, that the Senshi could live without food. A surprising discovery, knowing that she couldn't starve to death or die from dehydration. The magic within her would keep her alive. The only reason the Senshi had eaten in the past at all was that, if they were to lose their powers, they would die.

These had all been memories, slowly recovered from her past self, Serena.

But this dream… it wasn't a memory. Not a normal one at least. God it had been so real! Halcyon was… was… All Usagi knew was that this dream meant something important.

Halcyon? Who was she…?

Usagi looked around Makoto's house. Jupiter's house was where she had opted to stay for the past several nights. Hotaru was with her, residing calmly on the other, smaller couch.

She hadn't been able to face the public and no one had reason to come here… yet. All the people who were at her mother's house waiting on her imminent return would have to wait. She was… frightened. Her first day being revealed for who she was and she had failed. Miserably.

She well remembered their dead bodies. How she couldn't revive them. She'd tried countless times, trying to bring them back like she had before. It was to no avail and worse that she knew why.

It was because she wasn't strong enough. Moon Reversion Amelioration was a reversal attack. It brought things back to how they were. Reversed the effects of the past. She had been unconscious for hours it seemed meaning that pulling back the effects of hours, she would have to revert things to hours before in an attempt to resurrect them. Her Moon Reversion Amelioration could only reverse what had happened recently. If she had been stronger she could have gone back further, reversed time further till the point that life and soul would be restored to the dead ones. Now though… their souls were dead and gone. Too far back.

And she had failed.

She wasn't ready to face that. Not yet…

If she could avoid it, she didn't think she would ever show her face in public again. She knew she couldn't though. What was done, was done. She was Sailor Moon now in the eyes of the entire world. When she was younger she would have been dazzled by the idea. Now she just wanted to be younger again.

She turned the television on with the remote left conveniently under the couch. There before her was a rather old looking news man, giving the latest report on the Senshi. _"-where it is said that the infamous "Sailor Moon" lived. As you all know it was seen on live television that the girl named Usagi Tsukino has been named as Sailor Moon. This is the back story. Hopefully we will be able to shed some light on her sudden disappearance. As you all probably know, her mother had no idea about her true identity. One Nabiki Tendo, the girl who apparently had been Pluto's apprentice and confident, was able to shed some light on the situation."_

The scene switched to the brown haired girl Usagi knew as Nabiki. She was hysteric but not overly so as she had been when Ranma had returned.

_"The Sailor Scouts are apparently known for their justice. Obviously… I guess she and the others have saved countless people. But I know first hand. Pluto… Pluto betrayed the rest of them. My sister's fiancée returned from the dead! Pluto used her magic to make me think that my sister had killed her own fiancée! Usagi didn't know about this… so I… I can forgive her… and probably the rest of them too. I just can't wait for my sister to get home though. She kidnapped my niece… Pluto did… And I think my sister and the other scouts went after her. I think they went to Pluto."_

The scene switched back to the host. _"As unbelievable as it sounds, there you have it folks. Now we'll go see several eye witnesses who saw everything that happened first ha-"_

Usagi turned the television off angrily. She stood slowly. It was early. Abnormally early. She pulled back the curtains and looked at the sky. It really was beautiful just before the sunrise. The hazy mist of the almost-lit morning. It was Usagi's favorite time of day… if only because she only saw it about once a year. It helped her forget… forget all of these new problems.

She smiled. It wasn't all bad. Even without her… even without some of the Senshi. Even with failure… life still went on. When the Senshi were long gone. She knew someone would always be there to protect good. But for now… it was her turn.

No use wasting it.

She smiled again. The early morning really did brighten her spirits. She turned and began to get dressed. One final stop to make before she went home. One final stop before another confrontation with the world.

* * *

Min stood, finally, dressed back in her good old clothes. She'd finally figured out how to leave the horrid… skimpy outfit. Turned out that it was excruciatingly simple. It had truly been grating on her nerves. She'd gotten into the thing easy enough but figuring out how to get out of it had taken just shy of three weeks!  
"Good to see you back to normal, Min." Rand said as he entered her quarters. 

It had been some time since he had been here. He was off somewhere doing something. Min wasn't quite sure.

Rand was a prodigy. A devilish man. Cold and calculating were eyes that had once been naught but a farm-boy's innocence. He had to be, Min knew. He ruled very far and very wide. It wasn't an easy thing that he did.. Had to do.

"I… don't think I am quite… normal again." Min replied shyly. "I… still feel it. I… I could get it back if I wanted too."

Rand smirked. "Do you?"

"No! Of course not! What do I look like, some frilly princess?" Min said harshly.

Rand's smirk increased in it's potency. "Sometimes. When you want to."

"Eh… eheh.." Min blushed. She was accustomed to Rand's charms, and heard them most every day. She loved them anyway, though. She was enthralled with him. Aviendha and Elayne were in love with him as well. The lucky wool-headed man. How he managed that, Min would never know. But he loved them all. This… she knew. The bond told her.

They were getting ready. It was very early in the morning. The sun hadn't risen yet and would not do so for several hours. Rand had come to meet her where in her bedroom to pick her up before they left. She had been ready and waiting three hours before the dawn. He had been planning to leave for quite some time. He had told her that his departure had to be a secret.

Which was fine with her. Only Nynaeve, Lan, and Alivia knew of his eminent departure. Elayne suspected, he planned to leave though.

"Are you ready?" He asked, his face growing cold and determined.

"Yes." Was Min's simple reply.

Rand nodded. "Good. Now all we have to do is wait for Nynaeve, Lan, and Alivia."

As if summoned and knock was heard, tapping lightly on the doors to Min's quarters.

Rand walked to the door slowly and opened it tentatively. He wasn't disguised at the moment. If it was someone other than those three than someone would know he was here. At the moment, he didn't want anyone to find him. He planned his departure to be swift and un-expected.

He had been with Elayne for the past fortnight. The woman was insatiable! Light, he loved it! But his duty… his pride, all that he was called him to find them. Those who had betrayed him and attempted to murder him. And after that… He would cure the taint. That was why he needed Nynaeve. She was strong in the one power and he trusted her. If he couldn't trust someone who, for all it was worth, raised him, who could he trust?

He swung the door opened and, to his great relief, Nynaeve, Alivia, and Lan stood there. They held several _ter'angreal_ with them. Most of them were worn by Nynaeve. Lan al'Mandragoran was once Moiraine Sedai's Warder. When she had… died, he had been… transferred. Not long ago his bond had finally been changed to it's rightful place. His wife Nynaeve. He was a strong, muscular man. A dark look of sternness covered him like a blanket. One of Rand's mentors, he was almost the bravest person Rand knew.

Alivia as was her only name, was very old. She was over four hundred years old in fact. Once she had been one of the Seanchan's _damane'_… the "leashed ones." Women who could channel that had been collard and made as dogs or weapons, without free will. Her strength in the one power was so far unmatched. Even Nynaeve wasn't as strong as the old, yet ageless woman. Her eyes, blue by color, held some lines of damage around them from misbehavior back when she was a "leashed one." Her hair, despite her age, was still mostly blonde, though it had a few white lines.

Nynaeve al'Meara. No… that wasn't right. Her name was Nynaeve al'Mandragoran now… No that was wrong too. Nynaeve Sedai of the Yellow Ajah. The brash brunette, who was the only person other than Rand himself who had fought and defeated one of the Forsaken and lived to tell the tale, was the shortest of the three. Nevertheless she was quite haughty and confident. Her brown braid of hair hung about her, swaying back and forth as she walked. Her brown eyes glared at him, sharpened by the fact that they had done this so much.

"Well, are we ready?" She said haughtily, yanking her braid. Nynaeve's attitude was usually like that. Recovered from her hindrance in the One Power or not, she would always yank that braid when she was irritated.

Why she was annoyed Rand could not fathom. And he couldn't care less either. He had more important things to worry about.

"Yes." He said calmly. "Lets go then!" She snapped.

He nodded silently. Slowly he grasped Saidin. The almighty fire snared his bones, grasping his mind in a the torrent of struggle. He forced the weaves in place and bore a hole through the tapestry. As the tear in space widened, a long country side appeared on the other side of the gate.

"Far Madding." He said. And with that, he grabbed Min's surprised hand, and stepped through.

"I hate Traveling." Min muttered ruefully. "It's so… odd jumping hundreds of miles in a few sparse seconds…

Rand looked at her oddly. "You get used to it."

She gave him a sour glare as the others stepped through behind her. "I'd rather not."

* * *

_"Dead Scream!"_ came Keika's high pitched shout. 

Ranma dodged the oncoming blast with ease. "You're getting slow, girl!" She cried from her position in the air.

Keika grit her teeth, she'd win today. She could _feel_ it.

She jumped into the air to meet her hovering mother in midair combat. She spun quickly, as her foot careened towards her mother's side. Too slow. Her mother's right hand moved to block it while her left moved in tandem directly towards Keika's face. She leaned back quickly, abandoning her kick. She hovered back and smirked at her mother.

_"Pluto Void Beam!"_ She exclaimed.

A bar of light, blacker than the black of the world lanced towards Ranma. Ranma frowned. In an instant, she was gone, directly behind Keika.

"Stop telegraphing your attacks!" She said angrily into the surprised girl's ear.

Ranma aimed a punch squarely for her daughter head at point blank range. Keika had no time to dodge. The punch slammed into her cheek sending her rocketing towards the ground. "It makes it too easy to dodge them. Do it with silence and then you would have hit me with that!" Ranma shouted at her daughters free-falling form.

"Ahh!" Keika winced as her back had skidded against the hard stone floor, searing off much of the back of her uniform and burning her skin.

She wavered slightly as she rose to face the descending form of her mother. Ranma was smirking. "You've still got a lot to learn, Keika"  
Keika nodded solemnly once she made it to her feet again.

"I'm going to teach you something new today." Ranma said. She said it everyday and she never lied. There was always something new for her mother to teach her. "Sit down… this might take a while."

"What Mom?" Keika in an interested tone.

Ranma smiled. "What is the first duty of a martial artist, child?" Keika glowered. Child, child, _child_! When would she stop calling her that infernal name! She was the short one, anyway! "Damn it mom! Stop calling me that! I'm older than you!"

Ranma's smile flipped. "Answer the question. You are what you are. You will always be a child to me." She said harshly.

Keika sighed. "Protect the weak…" She said in a very bored manner.

Ranma smiled. "Good. Now do you know why?"

Keika gave a blank look. Why? Why would you protect the weak? What weak? There were only the two of them and she was definitely the weaker. So therefore Ranma had to protect Keika right?

"I… I don't know, mom." She said, truly baffled by the question. "W-why?"

Ranma smiled at her sixteen year-old daughter once again. With the question, Ranma gave her answer. "Because, Keika, the weak are the ones we love. I failed in this. The… m-man… my love, a long time ago, died because I was too weak to stop it. I want you to not make the same mistakes I did. Because of that, I tell you this story."

Keika sat happily. Story time! She loved her mothers stories. Many of them made her feel like the child she hated to be called though. "Tarwin's Gap" and "The Lady of the Flames" were her favorites. And she really wanted to meet Machin Shin someday. She'd always assumed, but was never sure, that Machin actually _was_ her father. Ranma talked about him quite often and had so many stories to tell about him.  
He seemed like such an amazing man. Perhaps this was why Ranma always edged around him? Perhaps she had lost him… Was this the story that she had been waiting for? The conclusion to the tale her mother would never finish?  
Light she hoped so!  
Ranma sat too, beside her daughter. "This story is one I've never told you before. I'm telling it to you now because… well… you are right. You aren't a child anymore. To me you always will be but… to the world… you're of age now."

Keika was almost giddy. New story! Ah! She wanted to see these fairy tales in real life, as her mother said she had, so badly! The rational side of her brain told her the truth. But her youth told her to hold on to hope.  
"This is the story of Akane Tendo… Y-you're… real mother." Ranma said solemnly.

Keika blinked. "W-what?"

"Keika… I've been hiding something from you for… a long time now. Before you were born actually." Ranma said quietly.

"W-what?" Keika repeated, still shocked. R-real mother? Was that possible? She and Ranma looked so much alike though! Same red hair… same blue eyes. She was taller sure but that was probably the result of… her.. father right?

"Akane is your mother. I… wasn't there when you were born but… when you were just a little baby, your mother… she died in my arms." Ranma said. Her eyes were reddening and a small glimmer of liquid slid down her cheek.

"M-mom? S-shit, don't cry… Are you… ok?" Keika asked in her brash yet, guarded tone. Her mother was crying! Her mother never cried! W-what did she do? What could she do?

"I'm fine!" Ranma said sternly. "It's just… it's a bad memory, alright? Ok… It… started a really long time ago"  
Keika listened to the story calmly. Her mother stumbled through it, in a particularly emotional way. Akane had the baby while Ranma was imprisoned by Pluto… the old Pluto. When she returned Keika was already growing hair on her head.

Telling of her first capture by Sailor Pluto and how much Ranma had loved Akane… how she had forgotten the girl in her mind but remembered her forever in her heart for all her long imprisonment.

Then she told of the book and the pedestal mirror and seeing Akane forget all about her. And how Akane had Keika while not knowing that she had ever been… with a man.

She told of Machin Shin and the Black Wind of the Ways. Her mortal enemy and her precious friend who was still trapped inside the monstrous beast of blackness and gore.

She told of her escape from the ways. "Moiraine 'the Blue' Damodred," and how she opened the door to leave the ways, while Rand al'Thor rescued her.

She told of Ryoga and her return to their world, integrating and adding to the story of "Tarwin's Gap." and "The Lady of the Flames."

Ranma told of the scouts… the virtuous Sailor Moon whom Ranma had come to respect. She integrated the story of the nine scouts into her own story.

And finally, she told of Akane's death by lightning. Keika couldn't take her eyes from Ranma as she finished her tale. Ranma didn't quite know how she and Keika had come to be here in this world of darkness again or who had sent them here, but she told of the beam of light that had engulfed her and brought her here as she had just almost engaged Setsuna.

Keika, when the story was over, was mesmerized. Ranma had the time to make it up. It could have been fabrication, even with the incredible detail. She was the Lady of the Flames? Her mother! She created the Black Wind? She… was not her real mother? But… what could Keika think now?

"Keika… I'm… sorry. I know this is probably really hard to believe but… it's all true. That is the story of… well, how you came to be. And… I hope… you could still call me mother after it. I'm… I'm sorry, daughter." Ranma looked down, as if ashamed or something.

Keika didn't know what to say. No amount of story telling could possibly remove her title as her mother though. "You're my mom, mom."

Ranma let loose a desperate sigh of relief and muttered only, "Thank you…"

As Ranma looked up at her Keika could clearly see tears in her mother's eyes now. At that, Keika did the only thing she could do. She moved to embrace the younger-looking woman.

Ranma let her tears fall freely onto her daughters shoulder. The years of thought, worry and doubt spent wondering whether her daughter would accept her when she found out that Ranma was not her real mother. Relief in the purest form was Ranma's only emotion. That and elated joy.

"Thank you…" She repeated over and over, babbling into her daughter's shoulder.

Keika didn't say anything. She had one question, still. This one question could not wait, though. She had to ask. "M-mom… I, I need to ask one thing." She said edgily as she pulled slowly away from the embrace.

"Anything, Keika." Ranma replied, wiping her eyes softly.

Keika hesitated, unsure. What if the question made Ranma angry or sad? Would it be Machin? Or perhaps Ryoga. He was the most likely candidate? Maybe Rand? She didn't know, and she had to. She'd asked so many times before, but this time her mother would _not_ edge around it. After this… she deserved to know!

"M-mom… if Akane is my _real_ mother… who is my father?" She asked.

Ranma looked at her and tears gushed from her eyes in larger flows. But she was not crying. She was smiling. "Me, Keika… I'm your father."

Ranma's story continued.

* * *

Min screamed. Anguish. Unimaginable anguish. Pain beyond reason. Her mind was wracked with stabs of millions of daggers piercing her every body part! She was dimly aware of her friends and lover around her, but the unbearable pain made it impossible for her to acknowledge them. 

"Min! What's wrong!" Rand shouted. He didn't understand, they'd been walking towards the city and then, in an instant, Min collapsed, screaming.

"Stop!" She cried perilously. "Make it stop!"

Pain washed through every part of her body. Like knives stabbing her insides. It washed through her, gliding through her veins. Tears fell from her eyes as the pain passed unbearable. Min whimpered. Her joints froze locking her in a position which minimized the pain as much as she thought possible. "Min!" Nynaeve yelled.

She lay down beside the girl. She didn't know what she could do but she had to try something. Mixing flows of spirit, air, and water she formed weaves for healing. Moving them towards the screaming girl, she found they wouldn't move forward. Something was blocking her! She pushed harder, and the barrier pushed back, stronger still. "Blood and ashes!" She exclaimed. "I can't help her."

Min was now writhing with reckless abandon. Slowy though, ever so slowly... somehow all the pain began to move. Her arms recovered… her legs felt rejuvenated. Her head seemed to lose the pain.

Her chest was another story. All of the knives that had been stabbing through her… the poisoned water coursing through her veins seemed to coalesce at her chest.

"I feel… something is happening to her… it's… her soul!" Lan exclaimed. "It's… something is happening to it!"

Lan wasn't sure. He could feel life energy. Soul. He had felt the Lady of the Flames' life energy long ago when she had scared Machin Shin away. Now he felt Min's more prominently than before. Something was happening to it. Altering it!

Min grabbed her chest and dug her fingernails deep into is spewing blood and ripping her garments. She didn't seem to care though._"Please, stop!"_ Her head lifted up, her eyes widened. Shock! Pain! And then… nothing.

As if on cue, the pain was gone. Her joints slackened and here eyes closed. Her head fell back but was caught by Rand's rough fingers.

"Min!" He exclaimed, uselessly.  
Alivia stood back, watching the scene. She wasn't sure what to think but she knew she couldn't help. Healing was not her forte. That was best left to the Aes Sedai yellow… Nynaeve.

Nynaeve surrendered to the one power, and again formed the healing weave with Saidar again, mixing spirit, air, and water.

This time it touched. Her wounds on her chest closed quickly. Nynaeve was and always had been a healer. She was of the firm belief that anything short of death could be healed. So far, she'd been proven right. She Healed Logain of Gentling right? The man had been permanently severed from the source and she had brought him back to it.

This was easy. Just a few bloody scratches. Min was unconscious making it even easier.

"Min…" Rand sighed, he turned to face Nynaeve and asked blankly. "What happened? What is wrong?"

Nynaeve had no answer. "I… don't know."

"Her soul was changed. Altered or bound to something… I don't know what though." Lan said. "H-how do you know?" Rand said.

Lan knelt down beside the girl and wiped her hair from her face. "Training." He said plainly. "You could do it too if I had a week with you… but I don't. She'll be fine it looks like."

Rand gulped. He couldn't help but be worried. That had been no scream of minor pain.

* * *

"The new one is cruel…" Mesaana murmured. "She may even rival you, Semirhage." 

Semirhage smirked. She was known for her torture. No one could best her in that. "She'll die. She is young and could never rival me."

Moridin laughed. "You believe the Great Lord wrong? I've seen her power. She holds in her more of the True Source than even I could cope with."

When a normal person said this it would be a laughable statement. Mesaana and Semirhage were two of the Chosen! Two of the thirteen strongest channelers of the age now known as the Age of Legends. Not something to be scoffed at!

But the multiple _saa_ flitting across Moridin's eyes made them shiver. Moridin. Ishamael reincarnated by the Great Lord himself. The strongest of all the Chosen.

If someone surpassed him by far, bar Lews Therin… the man reborn as Rand al'Thor, it was enough to make even them shiver.

"Why are we here? I have better things to do with my time." Mesaana barked. "You will do as the Great Lord commands." Moridin replied, his voice, ice.

Mesaana didn't look intimidated at all. They glared at each other. Moridin's glare, enhanced by the _saa_ flitting about his eyes, proved more potent when Mesaana looked away. "Why are we here?" She repeated.

Screams bellowed from the small house. These were perilous screams that Mesaana and Semirhage had never heard before. Semirhage grew irritated. The new one _was_ cruel… Sammael, Aran'gar and Cyndane. All of which were screaming. They were also Forsaken.

Both Semirhage and Mesaana were surprise to hear Sammael, though they didn't show it. Both had thought him dead when the Dragon took the city of Illian.

Semirhage's irritation was not borne from the fact that she was here when she could be elsewhere, like Mesaana. Her irritation came from the fact that she knew she would be hard-pressed to evict screams from those three.

Aran'gar maybe… she was new to being a woman. Regardless, all of them were stronger than her in the power.

"You see. She is adequate." Moridin stated calmly. I too was made to see the truth in the same way. A word of warning: Don't give her reason to kill you. Graendel is dead. It took her five minutes."

Both of them took it in stride. Graendel was a true pain. The woman was crafty, though not quite as slick as the spider had once been. It was good that she was out of their way. She could have been a fearsome opponent when backed in a corner.

"Do you seek to remove her? Moridin?" Mesaana asked curiously. Her humor was as false as her tongue, and they both knew that.

"Yes." Was his straight reply, surprising both of them. He seethed, breaking his calm exterior. "Who is she to steal _my_ place? She'll die at my feet. I swear on that."

Another scream bellowed from the room. It was the only male scream. Sammael's scream. Then it was followed by a maliciously, insane, cruel laugh.

"That madwoman is worse than… than… Lews Therin…" Moridin said. The _saa_ still flickered about his eyes like wildfire, picking up speed with his emotion. "But back to the subject… _Her Imminence!"_ He sneered, "Has ordered all of the Forsaken here. The Chosen in there have already been informed of this. Al'Thor plans to cure the taint on the male half of the power. Saidin. We are to stop him. But she said she had special orders for you two. For now, I recommended following her. Her punishment is more harsh than Shadar Haran's.

Mesaana cringed. Semirhage looked on defiantly. She had never felt Shadar Haran's touch as Mesaana had.

"What are these orders?" Mesaana asked, her cold exterior finally returning.

"You," Moridin replied calmly. "Along with Aran'gar, are to go to the Ways, and confront Machin Shin. Either make him an ally, or kill him. We have plans for the ways and the soul sucker has been there for far too long."

Mesaana's eyes widened. Kill… kill Machin Shin! By the Will of the Great Lord! That thing had killed whole armies! She didn't know how it was made but she had a guess… It was possible that it could be undone.

"I suppose that could be done. The Ways would be useful without the Black Wind." Mesaana said thoughtfully. Since Traveling was becoming common once again, Mesaana thought that the Ways wouldn't be very useful as a mode of transportation. But hiding an army of trollocs… the grove in Shadar Logoth could serve as an entrance easily.

"What am I here for, Moridin?" Semirhage spat. She would not be rendered helpless as those others were. She was smarter than that.

"You are to find the man known as Padan Fain… Ordeith, he calls himself now. You are to kill him. He has caused enough trouble."

Semirhage groaned. Pathetic! Was she some dog, sent to kill lesser dogs? "Why should I kill the filth! A pathetic fiend like that is a waste of my time!" She stated indignantly.

Moridin growled. "He may kill you. He isn't as weak as you may think. He is the being once known as Mordeth."

Semirhage growled with a feral tone. What was Mordeth? She'd never heard of it. "I'll not be her dog. She can kill the scum herself."

"Feel free to tell her that." Cyndane's perilous scream of torment, and possibly begging, erupted from within. Then silence again.

"That I will." Semirhage said. Her confidence wavered only slightly.

"I'm sure Nyranell will show you the error of your ways then. And after you beg at her feet as I did, perhaps we can form an alliance?" Moridin said in a mock-cheerful voice.

"Not likely, Ishamael." Semirhage stated. She didn't notice Mesaana's interested look, but Moridin did.

* * *

It had been long since Ranma had thought of reaching for the light in the back of her mind. A very long time indeed. 

But now she sought it. In doing so she found that the black veil that had been gone last time, was there again. She couldn't fathom what the veil was. It was like… protection she supposed. When she drew on the light, through the hole she had drilled in the veil, the light felt wonderful. Magnificent power, hers to force to her will.

Though at one time the veil had not been present. Once she remembered, that veil had not been there when she had touched that globe of luminescent light. The power had still been there, but with it then, had been a taint, full of filth… raw scum sucking at her blood and filling her mind with repulsion.

With the veil there, there was less power. She couldn't draw nearly as much from the light but… the sickening, painful, grotesqueness was filtered out of it.

It didn't matter anyway anymore. The hole in the veil had closed and she could no longer reach it. In about a year she thought she probably could. There was still a sort of… dent in the veil. It was weakened there but it would still be difficult to reach the light.

She didn't have any reason to really. She trusted her daughter immensely. Keika was an sixteen year old girl. She had just found out not a week ago that her mother of all of those years wasn't really her mother and was taking it all in stride. Matter of fact, the girl actually seemed to simply not care about it.

It made Ranma so happy that Keika didn't care. She thanked Kami, the Creator and every other higher being that she knew for that.

She still didn't know how Keika would react when she finally saw her in her male form. She'd told her all she could remember though that wasn't much. Her curse's origin eluded her waning memory. All she could remember was it came from the "Springs of Sorrow." … Whatever that meant.

"Mom!" Keika shouted suddenly. _"Mom!"_

"Hnn?" Ranma replied turning towards her daughter.

Ranma gasped.

There before her was something she'd been dreaming about for sixteen years. A portal.

"K-Keika! What did you… h-how?" Ranma asked giddily.

Keika seemed stumped herself. How _did_ she do that? She hadn't the foggiest idea. She'd been thinking about leaving… seeing some place and then, instantaneously, there in her hand stood a great staff. A heart on one end and what looked like some sort of key on the other.

Ranma knew the staff well. It had been Setsuna's weapon. Her key.

"I-I was just… thinking about leaving and seeing… well… and then this staff just sort of appeared. I took it and um… my hands just sorta moved by themselves until…" She pointed towards the portal of swirling black. It was an odd sort of tunnel with grayish wisps of color swiveling about the middle.

Ranma joy at the moment was paralleled only by the time when she found Akane. She was going back… leaving the dark prison once again. "W-where does it go? Do you know?"

Keika shook her head. "Well… it's time to go then Keika. Are you ready! I knew you'd get us out of here someday!" Ranma exclaimed.

Keika shied away in shock and horror. "Y-you want me to go… to go through _that?_"

Ranma nodded happily. "Keika… this is the only way out. We have to go through. I… it's just like the one that led me to the Ways… last time…

"The Ways! W-will… um… will this lead to where Machin Shin is, mom?" Keika asked warily.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Ranma replied calmly. "You have to be ready. I'm ready to leave. Are you? Do you want to see the world? The place where my stories come from?"

"Yes!" Keika practically shouted. Was she really going to get to leave? Was it finally time for her to see? To live! Were all of her mother's stories actually true?

Ranma smiled. "Come on then. Be brave. This is gonna be a really shocking experience for you." Shocking experience for Keika? Hell this was a shocking experience for Ranma! This easy? Amazing! God it had taken so much for her to get out but this… this simple little gateway. Made by the power of her enemy, given to her daughter. Light… her eyes welled with tears. "Free…"

Keika steeled herself. She looked towards the swirling, blackened portal. She was afraid but she had every right to be. She gulped audibly but walked forward.

"Hang on to me. Don't let go, Keika." Ranma cautioned.

She nodded. Keika was surprised. Ranma had gathered all of her items in no less than a few seconds. She was ready, her bag on her back.

"Lets go." And with that… they walked through. Keika was going to be free. Life would finally be shown to her. Tears that had stagnated in Ranma's eyes began to flow freely as she entered the portal. Finally, her daughter would have the freedom she deserved.

"Finally…"

* * *

Keika awoke drearily. What had happened? Where was she? She glanced around fearfully. It was dark but that was no problem. 

Her aura blazed around her instantly. There was her mother, unconscious beside her. "Thank god…" She thought relieved. It was no darker than her home had been. But no lighter either. She stood on… a bridge of some sort. What was it? Bending down she tapped on it. "Just like home…" the sixteen-year-old thought crudely.

Ranma moaned wearily. "K-Keika? Are you alright?" She asked. Her senses recovered faster than Keika's and she was on her feet instantly. She glanced around and saw, thankfully that she wasn't in the darkened world anymore. She was in the Ways.

She grinned a little. "Well Keika… welcome to the Ways." She said.

Keika looked around, appraising the place with scrutiny. It seemed little different then home. Stone floor, dark except for her aura and the book…

"… This is all? I was expecting more." She said disappointedly.

Ranma smirked in joy. They were finally going to get out and see people again! She thought she remembered what the doors looked like… maybe she could bust one open…

"It's a larger prison, Keika… we have to find a door. We… we need to move fast. If the Black Wind comes… I want you to run. As fast and as far as you can. I'll find you someday… just.. If it comes… run, ok Keika?" Ranma's tone was serious. No nonsense. No complaining.

"Run… gotcha mom." Keika said firmly.

Looking around, Ranma appraised the place too. Just as she remembered it. Dark, damp, and not quite inviting. They should be just fine. It wouldn't take too terribly long to find one of the doors… she could do it before…

Ranma froze in fear. Wind. Wind only blew in the ways when... when...

"Keika! Run _now!_" Ranma screamed. It was coming! She hadn't expected it to find her so fast! Damn it! Keika had to run!

"M-mom?" Keika asked confused what was that rustling feeling that had washed over her. It felt… like… like using the Soul of Ice technique. It was… cold. Cold movement along her breasts and legs. What was this feeling? This…

"_Run, Keika!_" Ranma screamed. She turned and her aura blasted fourth like a great fiery furnace. Keika had to shield her eyes. What was this? When could her mother do this? By god!

There, beyond where her light projected was a great.. Massive black… sickening being. The light held it at bay. Her mother's light held it. God the light hurt her eyes. "Run Keika! Run!" Ranma shouted. But to no avail. Keika was too bathed in amazement and feeling to hear her._ "Drink the blood… love the blood, kill… hear sweet screams… drink in screams… take the life, drain the soul… kill… kill!"_ The sickening words wafted across Keika's ears. What were they? What was this feeling? So many new types of pains and pleasures! The cold movement felt tingly and made her shiver, while these words and the silken, garish tongue that spoke them made her stomach lurch. What was going _on?_

Ranma's light held firm, but was wavering. How long could she hold out? Longer still than ever before but how long! "Keika… please run…" She gasped. She chanced a glance away from her blazing wall of aura and saw her daughter standing in mute shock. Her aura was draining. She was losing it! Keika had to run! She had to run _now_!

Tears leaked from Ranma's eyes. This couldn't happen! Not now! Not after so long… trying so hard!

"Machin!" She shouted defiantly. "Machin Shin! Turn back! Turn back now!" She screamed desperately. It was no use.

She closed her eyes. The light was hidden, covered by the veil so tightly, it would take a miracle for her to break through. What could she do though? She mentally banged on the black veil… trying with reckless abandon to re-drill the hole and gather that light that had once banished Machin. Her aura was waning. The wind absorbed her soul faster still than ever before. Eating it and mutilating it into his own, making him ever stronger. "Light.. Help me…" Ranma moaned. Her body moved on it's own accord, preparing itself. Her aura dimmed. Soul of Ice was moving to embrace her as it had many times before. She couldn't let it! She couldn't! If she slipped into the technique she would fall unconscious! And when she woke up.. Keika would.. Keika would…!

Keika still sat in the shock. She wasn't moving. Too late! Too slow! She should have waited and trained harder… or opened the veil to light! Why? Why had she been so stupid! So quick to rush out of her prison when she knew what waited on the other side?

And then something happened. It was instant and Ranma could feel it. Machin backed off slightly. The draining slowed. But it wasn't slow enough. "Machin! S-stop!" She shouted terrified. She was slipping. Failing. Her aura dimmed down to less than Keika's as the black mass of wind moved closer.

"K-Keika…" And with that… her light was gone. Her body froze itself completely, locked in the soul of Ice. And Ranma knew no more. "Mom!" She heard slightly.

The Wind faltered. Suddenly, it swirled around the frozen girl. A scream bellowed from within it but… the scream was not the sickening voice it had been. It was the voice of a man. The black mass faded but Keika didn't notice. She ran. She ran like she had never run before. Cold fear gripped her and terror engulfed her. Her mother was defeated, frozen cold and enveloped by that blackness. And she had been told to run!

"Stop!" She heard a female voice yell loudly. "Stop now!"

Stop? Who would tell her to stop! Who was that? What was it? Darkness.

Mesaana growled, the wind fled faster than she could hope to follow. But the girl.. Who was she? And what was that light that had been holding off the black wind? Ah well. She looked at the retreating form of blackness against black and saw it shrinking. Her idea had worked. Saidar, condensed spirit weaves had begun to counter the devilish taint surrounding the foul wind, which had most definitely been crafted by Saidin. She had injected them into the wind easily enough and now it was failing. The taint, seeping away. It would die in a few minutes, maybe less, she assumed. As for the girl, eh. Making her sleep had been easy. Mesaana knelt next to her and smiled. The girl had been holding more of the One Power while she was fleeing than anyone Mesaana had ever seen. Perhaps this was the ace that she needed. This girl was so strong and didn't even appear to know it! Saidar had flooded through her in waves. While Mesaana could hold a lake of the one power, this red-haired girl could hold an ocean!

"Are we done yet? I hate this place." Aran'gar complained. She was… skittish. Aran'gar was the reincarnation of Aginor. While Aginor had been a man, Aran'gar was a woman. She still held Saidin though. The male half.

"The wind is dead. Yes. We can leave now." Mesaana murmured.

"The girl?" Aran'gar asked. She'd recovered from her torture at the hands of Nyranell as well as any of them had. Mesaana could tell he was still shaky. Whatever the woman had done to Aran'gar, Mesaana definitely didn't want to go through it. While not the best, Aran'gar was no weakling.

"Leave her. I'm through with this. I'm going." Mesaana said, haughtily.

"Hmph." Was all Aran'gar replied. He channeled and a gateway appeared. He walked through it without another word, and was gone. She was a man inside, and of course, hadn't been able to tell that the red-haired girl was channeling. If she were a girl and could handle the female half of the power, he too would have wanted to take the girl and use her. She had been… so powerful. Perhaps even more so than Rand al'Thor.

Mesaana smirked. She picked up the red-head, made her own gate, and walked through as well.

All that was left present there, were the rats.

* * *

**End Chapter

* * *

**

Well there is my first chapter. Hope you enjoyed! **Please Leave a review! I like to know what my readers think of me!**

**To Chels: I love you, baby! Hope you enjoy!**

To Anon: If you would read the first book this would make more sense. If you already did then sorry heh.

To Irony: That's... Ironic.

To Silence-Darkness: Yo'. Where were you man? I waited for two weeks untill I could wait no longer. Please gimme an update or somethin! This just ain't the same without you pre-editing.


	3. Who Holds my Heart

I was disappointed in the reviews. I suppose I deserved it. Karma for not being patient. Heh. Well. Here is the next chapter. Let it not be said that I write for reviews. I love this story and I will damn well finish it, be it hell or high-water! Special Thanks to Silence-Darkness for Prereading.

* * *

_People were falling under the water far below me. It was rising. Rising ever higher! How? How could that happen? Even I did not know. Millions would die from something like that! Were dying from that! I was going to die from that! It turned out I was one of the lucky ones. I was in Hong Kong searching for… someone. It was the city Sailor Mercury protected. Suddenly the entire city was surrounded by a blue dome. I didn't know how she did it… All I know was that she saved my life and all of Hong Kong. She literally picked up the city, and several square miles of ground under it I might add, and placed it where it resides today. I heard they did it to several other cities, one for each of them, but from then on I tell you I became a Knight of the Beautiful Mercury! Of the scouts, she held my heart! I traveled back to Japan after that, seeking her. I found her, my Ami Mizuno. But sometimes I still wonder what ever became of the fiery haired woman I was once infatuated with… ah well. Tis' no matter. I am far more then content with my life now. Still… I wonder though… it is said that a red-haired girl caused the merge… perhaps…? Bah! Never mind…"_

_Formally known as,  
The Blue Water of China,  
Ambassador of the Rising Sun,  
Tatewaki Kuno, Age 25,  
In the year 2006 Ad.  
The year 0005 Am._

* * *

_**Chapter Two: Who Holds My Heart**_

* * *

Usagi approached without a sound. This was it. Her seclusion ended today. All the scouts were returning today. Hotaru walked beside her with a serene gait. As serene as she could get anyways. She was a little chittery but that was to be expected.

It was the late afternoon, and the television crews appeared to be just about ready to leave, packing up their things. The sun was still above the horizon, but only just, causing an orange glow to dwell about the place.

They rounded the small corner of the road leading to the Tsukino family home. There it was. Several reporters were sitting around the yard, looking bored out of their minds. It seemed, with her prolonged absence, she had lost quite a bit of popularity. On television she had seen _swarms_ of press a few days before.

The house was just as it had always been. Rather plain yet, it held an abnormally large yard for a home in Tokyo. Usagi was glad for that yard, or at least she had been. Now it was covered with maybe twenty or so camera crews who were just sitting and waiting.

"For me..." she thought sadly.

She was a little worried about her mother. The woman had been forced to endure meeting after meeting with reporters and such. She had begun to feel bad after the fifth interview she had watched on the television. She frowned when she realized that the reporters had noticed her.

"Usagi… Tsukino Usagi! She's here! She's really here!" The words echoed around the area, bouncing on and off people like rubber toys. The people simply stared at her in shock for a moment.

"Hello." She said straightly. "Taidama!"

She greeted the place with a warm smile, fitting of her blond and young face. "And… you're home too, Hotaru-chan." She said turning down to the child beside her.

Hotaru looked up into Usagi's eyes, hopefully. She nodded in affirmation, rather solemnly. New home or not, Hotaru had still lost all her parents...

And instantly, Usagi was swarmed by the reporters. "Usagi! Sailor Moon! How do you…? What do you plan…? Where were…" The questions melded together to form a large mass of incomprehensible noise.

"Get out of my way!" Screamed a voice. Ikuko walked forth from the home. She walked down to the crowd speedily.

"He-Hiya mom…" Usagi said apprehensively. "I'm.. uh… home!"

Ikuko's eyes blazed. "Where the _hell_ have you been young lady?" Her shriek echoed across the courtyard catching all present off gaurd. Some of the reporters swung their camera's around in a heartbeat to focus on Ikuko, while some remained steadfast on the returning savior.

"Eheh.. I was… um… on Pluto?" Usagi replied, scratching the back of her head. "I'm really sorry mom, but… something really important came up and… I… had to go."

"Come on! Now! Get in the house!" Ikuko yelled, though it was more in exasperation than actual anger now.

"Um… mom… this is Hotaru. You've.. met her before. Her parents were… taken from her on the trip… she needs a place to stay and... I offered to take her in." Usagi said. "She's with me mom."

Shingo, Usagi's brother, suddenly stepped outside the front door, having obviously already seen Usagi through a window or something. They fought often but the truth was, he missed his big sister. "Usagi-chan! You're back!" He cried, emphatically.

At a sharp glare from their mother, Shingo backed up to the railing furthest from her, now just noticing her anger.

"Yes… come in… welcome Hotaru-chan…" The woman said sympathetically.

Both Usagi and Hotaru walked forward as the reporters cleared a path. Usagi found it interesting to see her mother shoving them out of the way withoug a care clearing a path through them.

"And if one of you sets foot in my house…" Ikuko trailed off. Her threat was clear to the group of paparazzi and media mongers.

When she arrived at the door up a few steps to the low stoop adorning her home, she allowed the two girls and Shingo to pass into the house before walking in herself.

With a small shiver, Usagi began, "Mom I..."

"_Usagi!_" Ikuko cried throwing her arms around her daughter in a worried and loving embrace that had not been present outside.

"M-mom?" Usagi said, surprised.

Ikuko had been so worried that she could barely stand it. The past two weeks she had known her daughter was off _somewhere_ fighting _something_. Two weeks gone and then she suddenly appeared. When she had seen the swarming reporters outside her home she had looked out the window. At that very moment she had been flooded with relief such that she had never felt before... her daughter was ok... her daughter was _alive_.

"I'm so glad you're back… don't leave like that again! Please d-don't leave you mother like that…" The woman sobbed into Usagi's shoulder. Silence was their accompaniment for a time. Ikuko's sobs were the only sound. Then she said slowly, "I was… so worried about you Usagi! So… worried!"

Slowly, Ikuko left the warm embrace of her daughter, and looked down into Usagi's eyes. "I… I'm so proud of you, Usagi. Saving so many people! I didn't believe… couldn't believe it!"

"Heh… it is, pretty unbelievable." She replied uneasily. "Uh.. Mom, this is Hotaru. Hotaru, mom." Usagi introduced.

"P-pleased to meet you…" Hotaru said quietly. "Th-thanks for letting me s-stay."

Ikuko bent down to Hotaru lovingly. "That's no problem dear. We've got a spare room you can use, if you wish or-"

Hotaru clung to Usagi suddenly like a lifeline. "I wanna stay with Usagi-mama…" Hotaru whispered. Her voice was so quiet that Ikuko could barely hear the child.

Ikuko gaped openly, first at the small girl, and then looked up at her daughter. Usagi grinned sheepishly, again scratching the back of her head. "I… I sorta took over as uh… her mom.. Mom. I'm really sorry but… she's under my care and I wouldn't let her remain with anyone else because... I don't want to have to worry about her losing a family again."

It was true. Over the past several days, Hotaru had barely been seen without Usagi. They had become quite close, overall. When the previous day, Hotaru had called her Usagi-mama, warmth had flooded through Usagi at the words, filling the void that she had held ever since…

Usa…It wasn't the same… it never would be but. It was comforting beyond anything Usagi could hope for.

"Oh my…" was all Ikuko could manage after her shock cleared a little. "I… how did this happen?" She asked still in a little bit of disbelief.

Usagi gestured as if asking her mother to change the subject. Hotaru had clung more and more tightly to Usagi when Ikuko spoke.

Asuming a motherly tone made with years of practice on both Usagi and Shingo, Ikuko bent down to the little girl and smiled. "Oh well, it's not important. Yes, yes, you can stay little one. With Usagi if you wish. Come, I'll show you to her room." She said serenely. She offered her hand to the raven-haired child.

Hotaru looked at the protruding hand tenuously as if making sure it was ok. She let go of Usagi's leg and took the hand with her right, letting herself be led up the stairs. Suddenly she jerked her head back towards Usagi, to make sure she was coming.

Usagi nodded. "Go on, I'll be up in a minute, Hota-chan."

Hotaru nodded. She felt warm here. Home, like it had been once with Haruka and Michiru and… Setsuna… Though things would never be the same… Usa was gone… Minako wad dead… Michiru was dead… and Haruka… Haruka-papa…

She was led towards an upstairs room by Ikuko. When they were both gone, into Usagi's own room, Usagi leaned against a wall and slumped to the ground. She was truly tired. She had been to visit the Saotome household today.

The likely results had occurred, though this time, there were much more physically damaging results than at the Tendo household. She had let Genma Saotome beat her to a bloody pulp, stopping her Senshi from protecting her.

When the man was done using her as a stress dummy, they had left, her Senshi helping Usagi to limp away. The woman, Nodoka, seemed to think that adequate punishment. Usagi had looked like a demon of some sort with all her bruises. She could only thank the kami for her protective Senshi form.

It was a great respite when they had left the house. It was too painful to watch the husky man cry as he hugged his wife. Usagi had asked Hotaru to heal her after they had gotten quite a ways from the house.

Usagi was still sore and small bruises still existed beneath her thin short-sleeved shirt and shorts. Suddenly, Shingo walked up to her.

Shingo had been behind all for quite some time now, watching from the doorway. He was amazed at the change in his sister. Not to mention... Hotaru...

He felt his cheeks turn slightly red, the same way they had when he had a crush on Ami...

Slapping himself to get his wits, he walked up to his sister. "Hey." he said casually.

"Hey yourself." She replied.

Now that her mother was gone, Usagi felt a little more free to nurse her still aching bruises. Unfortunately, Shingo noticed. "Are you ok? You look like you're hurt a little…" The young boy asked worriedly.

Usagi waved it off. It truly was nothing more than a scratch. Nothing more than a pinch compared to having her arms ripped off… her _wings_ ripped off… Just the damage Hotaru couldn't heal.

"I'm fine." She said. "So what do you think of all this?"

Shingo looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'm kinda annoyed, actually. You've been saving the world this whole time, while acting like you could care less about Sailor Moon and Sailor V and... Usagi...? What's wrong?" He asked when Usagi's eyes teared up.

"Venus isn't... She's not... Please... don't talk about her. She's..." Usagi stuttered, trying to come up with the words to say. How could he tell his little brother that his hero had died? Worse, that it was all her fault?

"W-what happened?" He asked, wary of Usagi's change in tone.

"Please... I really don't want to talk about it..." Usagi sniveled. Her eyes became a little wet but she dried them with a wipe of her hand before Shingo could really tell.

The boy wisely decided to drop the subject. He still wanted to know what had happened but... "So… what's it like? Being Sailor Moon I mean." He asked, hoping it was a question she wouldn't be offended by.

"It's… a burden." She replied. "I… I'm their leader, Shingo… I can't afford to be a ditz or a fool anymore because… when I am… people die. Friends die… F-family might die. I can't have that… I can't… take that." Usagi replied. Her voice wavered only slightly as she finished.

"W-wow…" He said, impressed. Was this his sister? Not three weeks ago she had been the same meatball-head that was his sister normally. Now though…

"Most of how I acted before this was just that. An act. I've been faking my old attitude to keep everyone feeling… safe. I didn't really ever want to become known. Pluto had told us it was for the best and… I blindly followed her like a dumb schoolgirl from a bad movie…" Usagi told her brother, having recovered from her thoughts of Venus.

"I... Usagi..." Shingo replied. What did he say to that? What _could_ he say to that?

"I… I'm really tired Shingo.. I'll tell you what happened… all about what happened after I've had some rest, ok?" Usagi asked, in a voice that no longer held the wise tone she had used. Now she just seemed like his sister again.

"Heh… sure sis… I want the whole story too!" Shingo exclaimed in a voice obviously meant to cheer her up a little.

Usagi sighed wishing she didn't ever have to tell. "I know…" She murmured.

Slowly she made her way up the stairs. Upon entering, she found Hotaru curled into her bed, and her mother just standing by the young girl.

"Mom… I'm going to bed. I've had a… really rough day…" Usagi sighed.

"But I…" Ikuko began to complain. Seeing the pleading look in her blonde haired daughter's eyes, she relented. "Alright dear… but don't be surprised if your father wakes you when he gets home."

Usagi chuckled darkly. "I'd be surprised if he didn't!"

Ikuko strode over to her daughter, leaned towards her, and kissed her forehead. "My daughter… I'm… glad your safe. I need to know something though… where is Chibi-usa?"

Without warning, Hotaru began to weep. "Usa… Usa-chan!" She murmured through her tears. It wasn't a loud weeping. More, it was sniveling, and wheezing… crying tears that had already been cried before.

"Hotar-" Ikuko began but Usagi held her. Ikuko looked to her daughter and saw firm resolve.

"She went home, Mom. She just went home." Usagi said.

After a moment of silence, Ikuko began to nod. "I… see… Well… goodnight, Usagi Tsukino. You had better be here when I wake up! You… well… I love you darling."

Usagi wiped her eyes and said simply, "Love you too mom."

With that, Ikuko left the room. She'd wanted to tell her daughter she had school in the morning but… somehow she felt that, they could miss a few more days…

Usagi lay down on the bed, and hugged Hotaru close to her, sheltering them in the warm blankets of home. "Welcome home… Hotaru-chan. I promise… you won't lose this one… you won't lose this home."

Their embrace lasted long after they fell asleep, holding one another for the comfort neither of them could afford to lose again.

That night, Usagi dreamed…

* * *

Halcyon was jerked awake harshly. Looking around drearily she saw that she was not in her bed. Rather she was in an odd vehicle. She'd never seen one quite like it before. There were green walls. It was metal, definitely. Wires and tubes ran across the ceiling. A bench ran along the outside edge of the room, which was where she sad sat?. It wasn't a very comfortable bench either.

She wasn't actually sure if it was a vehicle or not. By the way it was bumping around harshly, jerking her left and right, it probably was. She looked around and saw other tenants were in the room as well.

"Where am I…?" She asked tentatively.

_"Young one… little girl." _

"W-who's there?" Halcyon whispered.

A man sitting near her overheard what she said. "Oh, um… I'm Akio Tenikua."

"Not you!" Halcyon snapped angrily.

Akio murmured an apology that wasn't quite heartfelt.

_"Don't be so rude. He didn't think you were talking to yourself."  
_

Halcyon blinked. Was she hearing things? She knew… she knew her mother and sister were dead. She could handle that… She'd lost her eldest sister long ago. Her best friend Tamarell had died too. And her aunt. Only the strongest could survive the cold and hot weather of the uninviting first moon of earth.

But… all of this hadn't made her go insane had it? Surely not. She was strong

_"Yes you are. That is why I chose you."_

Halcyon was really frightened now. This voice heard her thoughts, it _must_ be in her head. "Oh god, I really am going insane," She whispered. She stood, seeing a very formal looking man, standing near the door. He wore a red suit signifying some sort of military status.

"H-hi, um… where are we?" She asked tentatively.

"Shut up _girl!_" He said, drawling the word girl as if she were lower than dirt itself. "Sit down!" He barked.

"Wh-wha-" Halcyon began. She was silenced quickly by the butt of a Martian Parcillon Rifle slamming into her right cheek, sending her careening to the floor.

"I said, sit down!" He snapped angrily. He grinned as the other patrons winced.

Halcyon grit her teeth. It was no worse than a punch from her father while in training. So that's what she was... Prisoner. One of the first prisoners of war.

She stood quickly, turned, and sent a glare at the guard. He matched the glare with a sadistic grin. It seemed he was hoping for the chance to hit her again.

She strolled back to her seat, indignantly. Looking around she noticed several bruised cheeks on a few of the people in the room. The man at the door seemed to like his job.

"A-are you ok?" The man who'd named himself Akio asked when she sat down.

She almost slapped the fool. She was prisoner on a Martian… craft of some type. She had voices in her head and she had just been slammed upside the face with a rifle! "I'm peachy." She panned.

"Here." He said as he pulled out a pill. "It'll help with the headache."

It was only then that Halcyon realized she _had_ a headache. But she couldn't blame the man for that.

"Th-thanks. Sorry about earlier." She said, quietly.

"No problem." He replied.

_"Good girl."_

Suddenly, as she was about to pop the pill into her mouth, a warmth of sorts flooded through her. It washed her of her pain and felt… just… warm. Her headache receded as fast as it had come.

She lowered the pill warily and said, "Thanks again, but I don't think I need it," She handed the pill back to Akio.

He smirked at her and took it back. "Suit yourself." He replied.

_"You are going to make the ideal queen."_

Halcyon was getting angry at the voice. It didn't make any sense! Queen? What queen? 'Who are you?' She thought with irritation.

She didn't know how she could tell but the voice… smirked.

_"I'm the moon."_

"…"

"W-what?" She said aloud.

Akio glanced at her for a moment, but wisely decided to ignore her. Halcyon was glad for that. It was a small joy.

_"I'm the moon. And I… we… have chosen you to end this madness."_

The voice boomed in her mind. It shocked her, almost mentally hitting her somehow. The moon? What really was going on here?

_"It's time. You are going to be imbued. Don't worry child… It will hurt, but only for a short while."_

Again it boomed in her head like a torrent. How could no one else hear it? They all stood or sat, waiting while she hearing a voice loud enough to be heard miles away!

Warmth flooded into Halcyon's body again. 'W-what are you talking about? S-stop that! What are you doing to me?' She thought frantically. She hated being scared. She hated not knowing. Hated being… helpless.

She jerked suddenly, sharp pain entered her forearms and legs. Then her chest and slowly it spread throughout her whole body. She fell to the floor, banging her head against the metallic, smooth surface. Despite all this, she didn't scream.

"Ow! Hey! What are you doing, girl?" Someone barked angrily.

Her foot slammed into his shin. What was that sound? Bone cracking? Arg! If she could only think beyond the pain!

_"Damnit! Kietith!"_ She seethed. Keitith was a word that had originally been used to describe the Czar of Saturn, due to his un-royal lineage. It meant, "Son of Whores." Now it was commonly one of the worst curses that could be uttered.

_"There is no need of that…"_ The voice told her alarmingly. _"Relax, and it won't hurt as much."_

The voice's reassurance didn't help at all. Her blood began to boil. Where her blood had been, now rested only molten lead slicing through her tortured limbs.

Finally unable to contain the pain within her writhing body, she loosed a harsh shriek, alerting others to what was going on at her end of the prisoner's room.

She thrashed wildly; the pain spread throughout her body like wildfire, burning at her cold walls of defense and breaking them as easily as melting butter.

"W-what's happening?" She screamed. Was she dieing? Dimly she saw Akio when her head swerved to the right. Pain. In her neck! She tried to hold on but couldn't and was forced to thrash her neck from his kind, worry-filled eyes.

"Help! Stop it! _Make it stop!"_ She screamed uselessly. Everyone around her had backed up, their own shins, bruised and battered by her flailing limbs.

For a brief moment, all her thoughts, her only thoughts, were on the cruel and unyielding agony within her.

She could not tell how fast or slow it moved in her. But it did move. Condense. It shifted, all focusing on the center, her arms fell limp, unable to move or even attempt to move, though they were finally free of pain. Her legs did the same, and her neck. Her chest was another matter. It was as if all the fire had gone through her system and ended up right at her heart!

"Pl-please…" She begged, now her voice no more then a pathetic whimper. _"Stoop…"_

In answer to her call the pain was gone, disappeared withoug a trace.

Her back arched up. Light? Was that light from her? Incredible light! The world was _bathed_ in it's magnificence!

Her strength returned slowly. Ever so slowly, she moved her head down to look at the light emanating from between her breasts.

And there… lay a silver diamond more beautiful than anything Halcyon had ever seen in her life.

_"I've spent the ten years making it for you, Miss Halcyon. Keep it well. My "Silver Imperium Crystal." Defend truth, love, and all you believe in.. May the light shine and illumine you, Sailor Moon."_

With that the voice was gone, and the diamond was gone.

With that… consciousness left her.

* * *

Machin felt sickened. The bile in his throat seemed to course through his veins, encasing him in a field of sickness. His veins though… his veins.

He felt the blackness around him, seeping away. The sickness leaving him. Blood returned, and flesh, and bone. Slowly, he lost his ability to see all. Where once, he could see everywhere, now he could only see straight.

Out of his eyes.

He felt them slide into his sockets, as if they had never left. There they were, held firmly in place by his newly reforming eyelids.

Then came his nose, popping out on his face with a grinding noise as his face aligned itself. His bones cracked and crinkled harshly.The sense of smell came crashing back with the force of an Ogier's hammer, sliding into him like a furnace of heat.

The smell that greeted him was blood. Blood overwhelmingly, sweet! Oh so delicious was the blood that he smelled! But it was his blood, seeping into his forming head. Hair, matted and dirty, greeted his eyes as it formed itself out of the blackness. He barked a laugh at the joy of it all. The blood was so much more delicious when he could taste it!

"My mouth…" He thought suddenly.

Clearly! He could think clearly! His thoughts weren't destroyed by that devilish… tainted blackness any longer! It seeped from his mind, and just as instantly, his newly refurbished mind registered the blood. Though now it sickened him as much as the taint. Putrid and dank was his own blood seeping into his head and newly forming shoulders. He looked down, below him, and screamed

He was blackness, he was darkness. No body rested where it should. But it was forming… arms were melding and crinkling as bones were formed inside them, vessels aligned with them and blood flowed from the black, clouded wind that was once his only body.

Screaming, screaming. Terror clouded his thoughts! He tried to run. To hide from the black, the fear that was still so strong! Below him, it was there. The insanity that clouded his mind. It was giving it back! Giving in to his new will! The devilish taint was being destroyed!

Looking straight, he saw a white, angelic light. Feeding on him, his blackness. Draining it away. The voices screamed now. The insane ones that had been his own words for so long… his throat was dry and coarse. He tried to speak but no words came.

Dimly he realized he was still screaming, but why he could not fathom. He was no longer afraid, and there was no pain… nor was their pleasure. Nor any feeling of the sort. He simply _was_. The light held him, and he was safe… the darkness was dying, giving him back what was rightfully his.

Sanity.

He gurgled, helplessly as his torso formed. The blackness became smaller, thinner, and the light grew brighter and warmer.

Thought returned. Ranma! That was Ranma! Did she save him? Was she his angel! Yes! Yes she was! He knew she would save him someday! He _knew_ she would!

His crotch formed itself and suddenly cloth covered his upper body, and arms. Old cloth. Familiar cloth. "My clothes…" He thought dumbly. All would be well. All would be well.

His calves were forming, and his knees above them. Blood still flowing in trailing rivers into his yet, unmade body parts, coming forth from the darkness, forced out by the light.

"Light!" He shouted madly, though for the first time in over six hundred years, not truly mad. "Praise be to the Light! Praise be to the Creator! My angel!"

His feet were formed, and the blackness winked out.

For a brief moment, he hung, now realizing he hovered in midair, staring warmly at the white light which he loved.

And there she was. Ranma fell from the light, into his arms, unconscious.

Subconsciously, he drifted to the floor, hovering with his ki as he had done in the past. Holding the small red-head in his arms. She wore clothes, and on her back was a sword and bag, the likes of which he had never seen. But it didn't matter. His angel had returned. His angel had returned and he was no longer one of the dark…

Slowly, he placed her onto the ground, removing her bag from her back as he did so. He fished through it, seeking a blanket, which he found easily.

He lifted the small girl and laid her on it, gentle as the wind itself. Gentle as normal wind…

It was hours he sat there, watching that girl sleep. Machin let one of his new fingers come to her and touched her lightly with the force of a feather on her pristine face.

Silently, he watched in joy and adulation, as Ranma's eyes fluttered…

* * *

She stirred silently feeling the relieving cold chill of losing the Soul of Ice. She'd been basked in the frozen ki for hours she figured, but it seemed days. She didn't think she would like what she found when she opened her eyes. She never did.

Begging the Kami that her daughter was alive, she let her eyes open completely.

There above her, was the smiling face of a man she'd thought long, long gone. Her daughter took a backseat in her mind instantly, and her body was flooded with emotion and passion for the long-lost friend of her past. The feeling… the warmth from this person who had befriended her so very long ago…

"Light, you haven't changed a bit Ranma." Machin said with a smirk. "You're just as beautiful as the day you-"

_"Machin!"_ She exclaimed, interrupting him. He was back! He was himself again! _Alive!_ He was… _him_ again!

She sprang forth from the ground and tackled the man, sending them both slamming into the hard stone floor, Ranma atop Machin. "I can't believe it! I can't believe it's really you! You're back! You're back… I'm so glad, you're… back…" Her eyes shimmered with brewing tears as she stared into his own eyes.

She felt his arms encircle her slim form. Strong, steady arms holding her close. "It's ok…" He murmured. "I'm back… I was cured… I'm back…"

She realized she was still crying… soft tears of both joy and sorrow falling from her eyes and sliding down her cheeks. Slowly she lifted herself up and looked down at him. He looked no different. No different at all. Same Machin as he had been almost seven hundred years ago. He even had his clothes again. He was tall, much taller than her. Chocolate brown eyes and brown, plain hair, grown long and shaggy. He was free of facial hair, though how, Ranma wasn't sure. He'd never had facial hair. His muscles were more defined than hers were when she was a man and his arms and frame itself were enormous when compared to her small body.

Suddenly she felt quite small in his loose embrace…

It seemed they were both as immortal as the day they'd first met.

Bringing her right hand up from his chest, caressing his broad shoulder on the way to her face, she wiped her red eyes softly. Her left hand remained on his chest, supporting her. Their legs dangled behind them aimlessly on the floor. "S-sorry…" She muttered once she'd recovered a little.

He smiled his usual smile and responded calmly, "Seven hundred years I've been waiting to hold you again. Seven hundred years I… watched myself kill hundreds… thousands… It was you that kept the inner me still sane. You, who's energy was the purest. Who I… still love… my angel… my savior. It held me inside the wind, and kept me alive. If you want to cry on me, light, you damn well go ahead!"

"Th-thank you…" She replied. Was it a good reply? No. Her heart told her no. As did his eyes dropping, slightly. He wanted her now. He wanted her to be his, but she... Her damnable pride… but her pride held true. She may have loved him but… it wasn't how he wanted. It never could be as Machin wanted… Never…

"Machin… I… I…" she stuttered, unable to continue. What could she say? How could she tell him?

He leaned up closer to her and they stood slowly. He'd heard her small words, but only just. She never spoke like that. She was always strong and steadfast. Never timid. Almost never…

"W-while I was gone… I found Akane." Ranma began fearfully. What would he do? What would he think? Would he… run?

Machin's eyes grew wide. Akane? _Akane?_ That shouldn't have been possible! They were both several thousand years old! No! Ranma couldn't have found Akane! She was his! _His!_ He didn't speak as his insides were too full of unrequited emotion.

"We were together for a little while… too little…" Ranma's face became wracked with emotion. Tears fell from her crystalline eyes. "P-Pluto… killed her." Ranma told. Her voice grew stronger as her resolve turned firm. She had to tell him. Had to! She couldn't be with him… not now, and not ever! To let him pine on, believing in some slim hope of finally acquiring her love was something Ranma could not do.

Machin gasped in relief inwardly though it was a sad relief. Akane was dead. He knew he should be sad for this and grieve for Ranma's loss.

But he could not.

Ranma was his… Well, not yet but, she would be his someday. Not today probably but… he had all the time in the world… Outwardly, he put up a face of concern for Ranma, for whom he was concerned, and Akane, whom he could care less about.

"Machin… you must understand that… you and I… we… I-I don't…" Ranma stuttered, trying to find the kindest way to tell him that her heart belonged to a dead woman, and that she was a man.

"Y-yes? Ranma?" He asked sharply, trying to pry whatever she was trying to say out of her. He was on edge. Would she tell him she loved him or shatter him once again?

"M-Machin.. I love her… But we… we can never be together… just as you and I can never be together… I don't love you… Machin…" Ranma squeaked. By the end, her voice was no more than a whisper.

For a moment, Machin's newly recreated mind shut down. Then, anger, and jealousy swarmed on him like a fist of Whitecloaks on an Aes Sedai. The wench! The cruel… heart destroying _harlot_ that he could not stop loving. Why? Why couldn't he just forget the damn red-headed girl? More pain! That was all she was! He was finally free of his curse! Finally, and after all this… he was still alone.

For a long moment there was silence. Machin was in too much shock to speak and Ranma said nothing, though it appeared that she wanted to. No words came to her lips even when Machin recovered so he decided to make the first heated words.

"What! Damn wench?" He cried, tears brewing on his newly reborn eyes. "Break my heart, again and again! Turn me away and spurn me like always! Do it again! Please! Break it, just once more!" He screamed bitterly. "You should have just left me in the Darkness! Life was warmer there! Here there is nothing but the cold in your _selfish_ heart." He snarled viciously.

Ranma winced, as if slapped. Was she that horrible? That truly… horrible? No! He didn't know the whole truth!

"I'm a man, Machin!" She exclaimed. "I'm not a woman! This body, this face! It's all a lie! A curse! I'd lived in it so long that I had forgotten but when I left I learned who I was! I'm Ranma Saotome, M-Man Among Men! I _can't_ be with you! You have to understand that!"

Her words killed him. They sliced through his heart like daggers. The light his eyes had held turned shadowed and saddened. Solemnly he replied, "I don't care… I love you lass… how can you break me like this? Fourteen hundred years as friends, and however many thousand years in that black, coldness fighting for my very sanity! And now, you come back and rescue me… only to tell me that you belong to a dead woman?" His eyes shimmered as tears trailed down his cheeks freely. Would she never be his? Would happiness never greet his lonely heart?

Ranma was without words. She couldn't bear to see him hurt like this. Light she hated it… Kami, she hated seeing that pure sorrow in her very best friend. But there was no other way.

"I'm sorry Machin. I can't love a man. It… sickens me… I know why now, too. I am one, Machin. When… when I transform into a man… when my curse is lifted, I stand two inches shorter than you. Not eight. My hair's black and my chest is flat. You can guess what other… changes I feel. Would you love me if I were a man?" Ranma asked, knowing the answer.

She knew Machin. Knew him down to his very core. Stories about oddities and the like in the other world. Everyone had them and she had told them of the disgust he felt from his own experiences. She knew his answer whether he stated it or not.

The thought did nauseate him. Machin's eyes trailed over the buxom red-head longingly even so. Still as she described herself, he almost saw it. Like a ghostly image, hovering behind Ranma, was a man with raven-colored hair falling down to his waist. Muscles, stronger looking than his beautiful red-head's and eyes still just the same. With her fire burning in those same eyes. On it's face, the ghost wore Ranma's smirk. As if taunting him.

Could he? Could he truly love her if she took on the body of a man?

"I… I don't know!" He shouted. Disgust filled his eyes, and hatred too. Why did she have to taunt him? Why couldn't she just… just…

Ranma's face paled. It lit with white as the blood drained out of it and fear appeared to grip her very soul. Her ashen face looked colder than ever before, and pure terror anointed her blue eyes.

"Keika!" Ranma cried. "Oh my god! Keika! Machin? What happened to Keika?"

Machin didn't care. Not one bit. His tears had become twin fountains of anger and hatred and resentment. "I don't care…" He muttered.

"Machin!" She screamed as suddenly began to search frantically. Not this bridge. The next? Where was she? Where?

"Machin! Where is Keika!" She screamed. This time, it was not desperation. She seethed with her words. If Machin had killed her daughter...

Machin could care less what the girl said. She didn't love him, and if what she said was true… he couldn't love her. She never lied either. Never. She had no reason to.

"Shai'tan kasta! Encrada Uklieyn!" He screamed, as he slumped to his knees in despair. His final defeat. _"Shai'tan take me! My life is ended.."_ His defeat doesn't seem to last very long.

With those words, Ranma felt something. Again nauseated, she wobbled slightly at the feeling. The telltale signs of being watched made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. She knew it for a fact. She was being watched, from every direction it seemed.

As soon as it had come, it was gone. But still… Those words? What had they meant? Why had they made her dizzy? She didn't have _time_ for this!

In an instant, she stood before Machin, her hand closed around the fabric at his neck. She lifted him to her eyes, his legs trailing along the ground.

"Machin, if you killed my daughter, I will.. I will…! My daughter, Machin! Where is my daughter?" Ranma cried.

Ranma's anger brought Machin back to reality. Daughter? _Daughter!_ His angel had a _daughter?_ What was he doing? Reality. What had he said? By god... what had he said?

"I… I don't… I-" Machin stuttered wordlessly.

"Where is she?" Ranma screamed. Her eyes were narrowed and her voice, hysterical. "Please Machin! Tell me you didn't drain her! Tell me I'm not going to find her dead! She's… she's my daughter! It's her I love! She's… my angel… my savior! She holds my heart and no one else!"

What was he doing? She was telling him what she had told him all along! He'd never had her. He should have known that. Why did this seems so... why did this break his heart so much more than the other times.

Ranma's voice drifted across his delirious ears. Keika? Did he kill her? He could have. He didn't remember his victims… all he could remember was the blood, the thrill of the chase, and their screams. God how it sickened him now! He had delighted in it! Delighted!

"Sick…" He muttered sullenly to himself, tearing his eyes, still wet with tears, away from the girl holding his limp form.

"Gargh!" Ranma growled in frustration. She tossed his body aside like a piece of trash, turned, and began to shout.

"Keika? Keika? Where are you?" Her words echoed across the vast darkness that had been destroyed by the aura Machin had been giving off the whole time.

As Ranma searched, Machin began a quest for inner peace. She held his heart in her hands and she ripped it apart like old paper.

"I… love you… Ranma." He muttered. His own resolve firmed. He would make her see. Make her understand. He and she had all eternity to wait. If she had a daughter then so be it. She would become his daughter as well, over time. And perhaps her... insanity would recover in time. She was no man! Ha! She would see. In time, she would see.

They had all the time in the world…

"Keika!" He shouted, joining in his prospective love's search for her own beloved.

Ranma turned to look at Machin, light blazing around him in an aura of whiteness, the same as her own.

"Machin?" She asked, wonderingly at his change of attitude.

"Come on Ranma. I want to meet this d-daughter of yours. If… you are to never be mine, then… if that's your wish then I'll… abide by it. Just remember, I'll never give up hope, Ranma… I still love you. You hold my heart."

His words were strained. Ranma could tell how much he struggled to say them but… he did love her. With all that he was. She truly did hold his heart.

She smiled warmly. "Th-thank you… Machin Shin, for understanding." She whispered. "Thank you so much…"

One final tear trailed down Machin's cheeks as he turned and jumped across to the next visible bridge.

* * *

Her eyes snapped open, and just as quickly, snapped shut at the pain inflicted on them. What was it? This feeling? "My eyes? What's happening to me? Momma? Momma what's going on?

Blearily, she opened them once again, fighting off the pain of the light intercepted by her pupils. She looked around and found she was in a room. Her scream filled the room she resided it. What was she on? Blankets? A bed? Light! It was real! Her eyes snapped shut once more, terrified.

She scrambled out of the bed. "Where am I! What is happening! Momma?" She screamed. Then her bare feet touched it. Stone! Thank the light! Stone!

Slamming her body to the floor she felt the beautiful, cold, common stone against her nude body. She knew the stone! Her home was stone! It was all she knew. And stone was safe… She buried her face in the stone, encircling her arms about her face trying desperately to keep the light out of her eyes.

"It's _so bright!_" She murmured. "Momma… momma please help me!"

Suddenly a voice met her ears. "Your mother is dead girl. Killed by the Black Wind of the Ways…" Female it was, yet somehow, it was lyrical and smooth even with the bitter hint to it.

"A voice…" Keika muttered. "A voice is speaking to me… A _real_ voice! The book! Are you in the book?" Never removing her eyes, nor body from the comfort residing in the stone ground, Keika asked the voice.

"Your mother is dead, girl." The woman said. "I watched her die, and… I'm sorry for your loss. Her very soul was sucked dry by the devil that is the Black Wind, Machin Shin."

Keika was shocked. Was this woman serious? Could her mother die? … Her mind returned to that darkness. Lighter than her home, yet still the Ways was a place of dark. There, she saw her mother, holding at bay the great torrent of black vileness. She heard the vulgarity of the black words making bile rise in her throat.

_"Keika… Please run…"_

Her mother's terrified, weak and dying gasp returned to Keika's memory with the force of one of her own punches. "Oh no… momma… you can't have… you couldn't have…!"

"There, there, child. You are safe now… I brought you out from that terrible prison…" The woman soothed. And it did sooth her. Keika felt calm hands touch her… larger hands than her mothers, though they were softer.

"My mother is…" Keika tried.

Wetness came to her eyes. "What is this?" She thought absently… "Tears?"

"What is your name, child?" The woman asked.

"I… I'm Keika… Keika Saotome." Keika replied through her weeping. It was soundless sobs but they were sobs nonetheless. Her mother was dead? How could… how did…? How?

"Try not to think about it dear… Let yourself forget for now… rest… you probably need to rest… come. Lay down." Said the voice. "My name is Magina."

"No!" Keika shouted. She looked up, intending to glare at the woman.

Then… she saw… it was no more than a mere room, but it was there in reality. There! Not veiwed through a book. Not described in a story! It was there!

Her scream tore through the halls of the White Tower. She flew back to the darkest corner of the room, finding her only comfort in the darkened stone, not lit by the light from the windows. "W-where am I? What is all this? What's happening? Momma! Momma!" She cried uselessly.

"Chi-_Child_! You must be calm!" The woman exclaimed, agitated. What was wrong with this girl? It was as if she feared the very room she lay in!

Though Keika's screams didn't stop.

Mesaana sighed. Embracing the One Power she formed the flow of air and spirit and lanced it into the screaming red-head. Instantly, Keika returned to her slumber.

"… What have I gotten myself into?" Mesaana moaned. She knew the girl, Keika, had power… power beyond imagining. She'd been using it as she screamed, setting of . But the girl acted like she'd never even seen a room before! Hugging the stones like they were a lifeline! How long must she have been in the ways? How long?

"It doesn't matter…" Mesaana thought laboriously. She knew she could manipulate the child. Make Keika learn to use her power and make her use it to her advantage. Mesaana was one of the Chosen! And she would not have the new fool Nyranell usurp her so easily…

And her plan was fool proof. The girl just lost her mother… she would make a fine replacement. She'd been a comforter many times before… she would take the girl's mother's place! And then…

Mesaana burst into a sort of mad laughter… She would be Nai Bliss! She would reign as the Great Lord's Advocate!

Sparing no more time, she called Alviarin to her. A new Novice was to be entered and the so-called "Keeper of the Chronicles," was the perfect person to get the red-head into novice white robes…

As the Amyrlin Seat's Second, and secretly the head of the Black Ajah, entered the room. At her intimidated look Mesaana gave a sinister grin.

* * *

The woman woke slowly. To say she "woke" was an understatement in the most incredible of ways. She awoke as in waking from a long sleep. Also, she awoke in memory. Her mind was flooded. It wasn't as if it were millions of lives of new information being shoved into her head. It was different.

As if… it was as if these memories had been asleep. Lelind Woodhew. That had been her name once. As has the name Quin Breem. And Larah Saroida. It wasn't that she remembered this. It was as if the memories of this life had been… sleeping. Now they had awoken and all her past lives returned to her memory.

Tamra Ospenya had been her favorite name. It was her second newest name. The name she had had in the life before her last life. The name she had been called when she was the Amyrlin Seat. She had been The Flame of Tar Valon, Leader of the Aes Sedai, originally of the Blue Ajah.

Tel'Aran'Rhiod was just the same as it always had been. The World of Dreams where she would rest whenever she died, until she was reborn again.

She loved this world. It was here where she truly lived because, in normal life, she would always die before her time. Always would she die before she had the chance to get her love. Some lives she had no love, and in others she had a hero who saved her time and time again. Either way… she would always die far to young… Never by natural means could she remember dying. Always murdered… every single time…

Channeling some of the True Source, Saidar, she traveled to the dungeons of Tar Valon, where many residents of the World of Dreams bound to the Horn of Valere, like herself, would frequent. It was silent. No people were here that she could see though in the real world, they were. They were hidden. In the World of Dreams, one couldn't see people. Reality was muted. And people could not see her. The effects of their actions were there, though. They would appear when something was moved or changed or destroyed.

She walked through the rooms silently, moving up the tower. This place was barren. She turned around and looked. The open door she had just walked through was closed now. Someone must have closed it in the real world. In this place, reality itself was mutable. Even so, all that was in _Tel'Aran'Rhiod_ was based upon the real world.

Suddenly Tamra found that she was wearing a red Chinese shirt and blue silk pants. "Must be thinking about him…" She thought dejectedly. She willed her apparel to change and it did without fail. Her normal green pants and shirt from her life as Tamra returned to her and she smiled.

She was home. Back in danger, where she belonged.

And danger it was. Finally she made it to the top of the tower, the Amyrlin's study. The ever present stone walls greeted her, though a picture that she barely recognized did as well. Bonwhin. Meraighdin Bonwhin's portrait adorned the wall. The failure. The last Amyrlin from the Red Ajah, who had led the tower to shambles until her successor restored The Tower's credibility.

The She saw two people here. Moving silently, she began her first spying since her most recent death.

"…understand what's going on!" The first woman was saying. "Blood and Ashes!"

The woman suddenly flickered out of existence. It was a fast dream. All people entered the World of Dreams sometimes, if only for a brief moment while they slept. It was rare but in those dreams some could fall off a building and never wake up…

This woman had been lucky. Just here for a sparse second or two in her dream. The other figure however…

Tamra gasped. "The Amyrlin Seat! Since when did the Amyrlin Seat learn how to come to _Tel'Aran'Rhiod_!" She thought frantically. She hadn't been able to enter Tel'Aran'Rhiod when she was alive. Not ever!

It was a young girl… the youngest Tamra had ever seen wearing the stole. But, sure enough, she did wear the seven colored stole of the Amyrlin.

Getting a hold of herself, she realized that this was the World of Dreams. Anyone could think themselves into the clothes of the Amyrlin by complete accident.

Though this one…

Getting a closer looked, it appeared that the woman was waiting. Long black hair fit her white skin, making her beautiful and seemingly dangerous as it was with all Amyrlin Seats. She had looked quite intimidating in that stole herself. Her hard eyes would have struck fear into a lesser woman but Tamra was no pushover herself.

Without warning, another woman appeared, and then another.

"Egwene… the news?" Said the first woman. Her hair was long and blond and she was shorter than the ebony-haired child in the stole. Egwene? Is that what she called her?

Tamra was beyond shocked. The... they were. Three? Three women were conciously using the "World of Dreams" as a meeting place? And one was the amyrlin seat no less!

"I'm worried Elayne. I wish I could avoid this but… I don't think it's possible. Negotiations are going steadily downhill." Egwene replied in a tone so low that Tamra had to strain to hear.

Elayne? Tamra thought oddly. In her life as Tamra, her great friend, though younger, princess Morgase, future queen of Andor, had wished to name her child Elayne… was it possible? It had been about thirty years or so since she had lived last in this world, and seventeen since she had been in Tel'Aran'Rhiod. It was… possible.

"Did you expect them too? Elaida will not give up the position as Amyrlin Seat. You knew that before this started." The girl known as Elayne replied tartly.

"Elaida!" Tamra gasped almost aloud. "Elaida was Amyrlin Seat? The White Tower would be in ruins with that child at it's head!"

They began speaking again and and Tamra continued her eavesdropping. "I had hoped… if she knew it was the only way to end peacefully, that she would consent. The White Tower cannot remain broken. It simply _can't!_"

Tamra fell to the ground. The White Tower… broken? Was that possible? In the past hundred or so lives she had lived, nothing so drastic had ever occurred! Did the Dark One again lay his touch on the Wheel of Time? The Dragon had been reborn… that she did know from Guitara's fortelling. But could that much have truly changed?

"What is this for, Egwene? We've been through this before! Why do you hesitate now?" Elayne replied. "War is come to the White Tower and if you don't attack she surely will!"

During the entire exchange so far the third woman had remained silent. Tamra did not think the woman would talk either. This seemed as if the conversation would end quickly.

"I know… I know…" Egwene said.

The one called Elayne stared at Egwene for a time. And then sighed despondently, "I have to go. Light blind me, but I have my own affairs to worry about. Borderlander leaders are in Caemlyn. Borderlanders! Why! Borderlanders haven't been to Caemlyn since…"

"I'm sorry to have bothered you Elayne." Egwene interrupted angrily, "But I have something important to discuss."

Annoyed slightly at being interrupted Elayne looked at the young Amyrlin. "What!" She snapped, a tad harsher than she intended. "Mother.." She added afterwards in an apologetic tone.

After a moment of odd silence Egwene said sagely, "I have reason to believe that one of the Forsaken resides in Tar Valon…"

Tamra gasped, this time audibly. The Forsaken? They were Alive? What had she missed during her stay in the other world? What had happened? It had only been seventeen years or so since she had been in _Tel'Aran'Rhiod_! Had so much happened in just those few short years? Fortunately for her, Elayne's gasp had muffled her own.

"The Forsaken? I haven't seen or heard of one since I think Moghedien at Ebou Dar! Who? How?" She asked frantically.

Egwene's calm made her truly look the Amyrlin she appeared to be.

"It was a female. I felt power. Such power of Saidar from Tar Valon that I don't think I, you, and Nynaeve linked could have compared to it! I believe there is a Forsaken in Tar Valon with an Angreal, and she is not afraid to show it." Egwene told. "I was in the camp when it happened. Suddenly a great blaze aroze from Tar Valon. Someone embracing so much of the power that it made me quiver. I was almost two miles away from the city and felt it like a fire."

Elayne gulped a little. "W-what are you going to do?"

Egwene sighed dejectedly. "I don't know. But I do know that I found something odd in the study here that might somehow relate too it."

Egwene began to stroll about the study. A large room with a desk in the center, which Egwene strolled to. "Look here." She said.

Elayne followed and looked for a moment. Then, confused, she asked. "So what? The tower always gets new Novices…"

"During a siege?" Egwene questioned. "No… I believe there is more to it than that. One new novice, and no way in or out of the city due to our army… I believe… that someone in there can travel. And I think it is a Forsaken. There are a few other who can travel but... a power like that... Either it is a rather strong sister with an incredible angreal or..." Egwene stated.

"What could this mean? And who do you think this girl is?" Elayne asked, curiously.

"Who knows?" Egwene responded with her hands raised in exasperation. "But whoever she is, I bet she'll cause trouble. Somehow…"

Elayne looked thoughtful for a moment. "The name is odd. It's from nowhere I recognize… I've never heard it before."

"Precisely." Said the third woman. "It's foreign. Not a name that would come from Tar Valon. Nor anywhere else... but perhaps... several thousand years ago..."

Elayne turned to the woman quickly, as if just noticing she was there. "What do you think of this, Amys?"

Amys said nothing. "I deduced the same as Egwene. If the power she felt was as strong as she says then it is most likely a Forsaken, or someone has found an incredible _sa'angreal_."

The third woman was tall, though short for her kind, and tanned. An Aiel without a doubt. "Savage Aiel beasts." Tamra muttered silently. Yet it seemed the Amyrlin and the Aiel were getting along. Perhaps relations had been repaired between them? After "Laman's Folly" Tamra didn't think that the Aiel would ever get along with "Wetlanders" again. Especially, Cairhienen… fortunately there were no Cairhienen here.

"Well… I will begin to attack soon… the army moves… If you can Elayne… stop in here every now and then to see if anything different has happened. I can't come here often enough. Try to find out who this novice, Keika Saotome is."

"Keika… Sao…?" Tamra whispered.

She fainted, cracking her head against the hard floor loud enough to wake the dead.

Egwene's eyes snapped towards the fallen form like a hawk. Amys's and Elayne's did as well.

* * *

Ryoga Hibiki walked on in silence. His cats beside him were walking as well for one. They'd become stronger cats now. Their hair was no longer brushed as it had once been and both of them had taken on a slightly feral look.

Ryoga was annoyed immensely that he hadn't found Akane. He had met Kuno, true enough. But Kuno, for once, had not been in Nerima.

"I still don't understand why I ran into him in Matsuyama… It really is odd how I get around sometimes…" He thought, oddly.

"Are you still babbling about that fool! The buffoon! Calling you a black wizard just because you had a black cat with you! What a jerk!" Luna said indignantly.

"Look who's babbling…" Artemis retorted.

Luna sat and thought for a moment. "True enough…" She stated after a while.

Kuno had claimed he was looking for his Pigtailed Goddess. He had not seen her in a very long time and he was under the impression that the foul sorcerer Saotome had taken her and had his way with her.

At the speech, which Ryoga had never actually cared to listen to or hear before this, Ryoga stared for a moment in shock, and then burst into laughter. Kuno left at that, thinking he had been speaking with a madman.

"Where are we now anyways?" Ryoga asked cluelessly, snapping back to the present.

A large white building stood before them with a balcony on the second floor, held up by large white pillars. "What is this place?" He wondered.

Slowly he decided to walk in. His cats were following in hot pursuit.

"Do you know where we are Ryoga?" Artemis asked, and then considered it. "No… of course not. So where are we this time, Luna?"

"I… think I saw this building in an American magazine in a bookshop on the way to the arcade with Usagi once…" Luna said in a conjectural tone as they walked up the steps.

"Oh?" Artemis and Ryoga questioned.

"Yes… I believe they called it The White House." She said, looking as confused as Ryoga and Artemis. "Out of all the other white houses, why would this one receive such a title? True it is rather grand in nature… but it isn't truly immaculate. It doesn't hold a candle to Queen Serenity's summer home…"

"Well lets go in," Ryoga said as they reached the door.

He opened it in silence. There he saw several people, all dressed quite formally. He felt rather out of place considering his own apparel was for travel, as always.

What in the world was he doing here? He began to wander. Several rooms were blocked off by men in black suites standing by doors. Ryoga, wisely, decided to keep away from them and simply kept on walking, knowing that he would be gone from this place soon anyway.

They eyed him curiously but for some reason, did nothing.

He conveniently missed the sign that said _"No Unauthorized Personnel Passed this Area - Top Secret."_

The cats didn't notice it either, as they were to low to the ground to see the signs.

Silently, they walked on.

* * *

Two weeks had slowly passed. No sign of Keika. No sign of anything except the dank Ways. Much of the time had been spent in silence, neither wanting much to speak to the other for fear of provoking them in ways neither wanted.

Machin found that he had a new trick. He no longer was forced to draw out people's auras. With all his time as the Black Wind, apparently he had learned to control it or some such similarity.

He now only drew energy from Ranma when he couldn't really stand it any longer. He could conciously draw from her when he wanted and stop at his leisure. A small joy. She was in the process of creating another drawing rod for him to fill himself, effectively making his own life his own food as well.

They assumed there was a limit and, if he went long enough without drawing, or used too much of the ki in his body up, that the curse would take over and begin to draw itself. They never attempted to find out.

Two weeks they had searched and two weeks they had found nothing. Their searching was significantly faster than it had been once as well. Both of them could fly throughout the ways like birds. Granted both of them could only do this for maybe two or three hours at a time, due to Machin always running out of energy, but they could do it. They covered much more ground this way. But now…

"It's a door Machin. A door leading back to the real world." Ranma said plainly referring to the circular stone with the image of a leaf imbedded in it. "I… I think that's where Keika is."

Ranma turned to her curiously. "Why? Why do you think she's there? So strongly I mean?"

Ranma sighed dejectedly. "I don't know… Light, why can't I get free without any problems? I just wish…"

The truth was that Ranma didn't have a clue where her daughter could be. But they hadn't found a body yet. And that alone was enough to raise their spirits. Ranma had always found bodies after Machin drained them way back when, and it had never taken two weeks to find them. This was when she couldn't fly.

She'd first found her ability to hover at Tarwin's Gap. She'd also done it several times in the ways before her last escape but had never really thought about it. It had come naturally then.

Then when she had found Akane, her heart had soared so much so that her body had no choice but to be lifted! This gave her the ability to create a platform below herself, and rise into the air.

Ever since then, she had been perfecting the ability. Keika had only been able to watch in awe when she attempted, seeing her mother fly high up into the darkness that had once been their home.

All was different now…

"It's up to you, Ranma… I… I'm not afraid…" Machin said, grinding his left fist into his right palm. Sweat developed there showing his nervousness. People… Light, how frightening… If he'd known that he could get out through these doors when he was younger just by breaking them down then… what would have happened?

It was all in the past now. He had competent control on his curse and Ranma seemed ready to be in sunshine and light again as ever. Machin tried to hide his fear at the prospect of leaving, but he knew he was failing miserably. Even through the fear though, he was quite giddy.

Perhaps… if Ranma found her Akane… then maybe he could find his mother… his old love? Who knew? Truly he doubted it. Ranma's world seemed to run differently than his own did. Perhaps time shifted slowly there? Bah! It was too confusing for him to think about anyways.

"Come on… lets go, Ranma. I still want to meet your daughter." He said sharply, in effort to disguise his timidity.

Ranma smiled. "Are you sure? You could… stay here if you want…" Ranma said. She could feel his trepidation and wouldn't have thought less of him for staying here.

"No!" He replied tartly. "I'm going! Come on! L-lets get this over with!"

Ranma nodded. She walked up to the door. Could she break it? Or did she need the magic of the blue cloaked woman's staff? Moiraine, was it? Ranma's memories were becoming fuzzy again.

"Well, here goes nothing." Ranma said hopefully. She wanted to leave but… what if Keika was still here? Alone in the darkness?

Keika had never _been_ alone before. Where could she be…?

With a sigh Ranma began to gather her vast amounts of ki energy. The great reservoir of ki held within her molted under her force. Moving the ki from within her she brought bundles into her fists, and arms.

Once enough was gathered for her to be able to strike the strongest of metals with no damage to her hands, she reared back, and swung her fist at the circular door.

Her fist collided with the stone with a resounding bang, echoing across the vast ways. The door split with a crack straight down the middle, causing two pieces of stone to fling outward.

Light poured into the dark cavern, blinding both Ranma and Machin once again.

He let out a short yelp, but said nothing. Noticing the heavily overgrown grass on the other side, Machin stared in awe at the very sight of it in real life…

"Real grass…" He exclaimed. Then he stared, slack jawed at Ranma… "We are… really going to be free?"

Ranma nodded, a broad grin plastered on her face. "Welcome back to the world Machin." She stepped into the doorway, atop the grassy ground that covered the exit.

Machin gulped, audibly this time. He was a little frightened though it was fading in light of rising excitement. What would… what would happen to him? Would he find life out there to be pleasing?

Ranma watched all this with an experienced eye. She felt somewhat like the man's parent at the moment, having gone through all this before. "Come on, Machin." She said, waving her hand for him to take it. "Lets go."

Machin nodded, and took his hand. With that, Machin took his first step onto grass in over three thousand years.

Light shone on his eyes but the pain of it didn't hurt him like he might have expected. He wasn't blinded as Ranma had described when she had woken after her escape. Though perhaps it was not as bright.

Stepping out, into the chill of what appeared to be early spring he turned towards the west with a shiver.

His eyes fell on a majestic sunset, hovering just over miles upon miles of endless wooded forest in the valley below.

"Blood and ashes…" He cursed in absolute awe and shock. "By the name of the creator… It's… so beautiful…"

Ranma was forced to agree. It was an enveloping sunset of beauty she had seen rarely. But it wasn't important enough to merit so much attention. "Come on Machin…"

Idly, Ranma wondered where she was, and hoped that she would feel her daughter's ki sometime soon…

Why had her daughter disappeared again? She was always so lonely without her daughter around. Lonelyness... It always made her feel so cold... so...

"Keika… If you're out there, I'll find you. I promise it… Please be alive, so you can stay with me… Girl, you'd better be alive!" She muttered to herself. "If you're not alive, I'll kill you…"

She chuckled at her personal joke, wondering how serious she was about that. She needed Keika. Keika kept the cold away... Machin couldn't compare. Only Akane and Keika could do that...

If her daughter was dead then she would kill her… Damn girl, causing her so much trouble. Why couldn't the girl have just stayed with her? _"Keika… Please run…"_ Her own memory returned to her in a daze, her clouded thoughts becoming slightly more clear.

"Ah… hah ha! Yeah… that's right… I told her to run… ha hah… didn't I…heh hah ha!" She cried deliriously, as she continued chuckling.

"Ranma?" Machin exclaimed, trying to get her attention.

Abruptly, she ceased her chuckling and turned to Machin with a wide grin. "Come on Machin. I want you to meet my daughter soon!" She said in a voice that was strangely full of cheer. "But if she is dead, will you help me kill her?"

She turned and began walking in a random direction. North if the sun was any indication but she didn't care.

Suddenly Machin ran to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Warm.." She mumbled without thinking. Without warning, she stopped and put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"Was I just….?" She asked dumbly.

Machin caught up to her then, treading warily to avoid the scattered branches. Twigs, and leaves. They were foreign to him. He gulped audibly but kept on, so he could catch up with Ranma.

"Ranma, are you ok?" He asked frantically.

Ranma fell on her butt like a rock, covering the slacks she wore in dirt and mud. She could care less about the dirt, though.

"Oh god, no…" She thought, terrified. Did her daughter do that much to relieve her insanity? What was happening to her? She hadn't thought all clouded and deliriously like that since… since she fought the Black Wind in the Ways almost seventeen years ago…

"Oh, Keika please be alive…" She muttered. "I'm… going insane without you around… damn girl… come back to me…"

Ranma knew how huge the world was. She knew that coming here meant that finding her daughter

Just one tear this time… but it fell just as any tear would. "Ranma… what's wrong?" He asked as he knelt next to his long-time friend. Suddenly, she lunged for him, wrapping arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulders in a hug for the first time since he'd been reawakened.

"I… just… miss my daughter… Machin…" She sobbed sorrowfully.

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

**Please leave a review!** I got so few last time... i felt sad... cry.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I had alotta fun writin this one. Thank you to Silence-Darkness for Prereading. I'll pm you with a little info concerning your questions.

**Chels: I _MISS_ YOU! I can't wait to be back with you! I love you, baby!**

Till next!


	4. Anamnesis

_Let Time's watcher, lose her eyes._  
_Let twice and twice be marked the Dragon.  
Let loves be lost and losts be love.  
Forthwith, the Dancer burns all._

_Let Crystalline Tower of the Bearer, ascend.  
Let Mighty Telilro, The Sky Tower rise.  
Let light halls of silver, darken once more.  
It comes, the Dancer burns all._

_Let the great Merge come, worlds become one.  
Let Tarmon Gai'don rent them asunder.  
Let Silence forge the battleground.  
It ends, the Dancer burns all._

_Let the great wheel weave,  
It weaves as it wills,  
Loom touched by hand,  
Itself it kills._

_Hold fast, armies to the Silenced Hall,  
The Lady who Dances the Flames, burns all._

_From "The Karaethon Cycle"  
"The Prophecies of She who Dances the Flames"  
As translated by Eve El'fera,  
Chief Librarian in the Halls of England,  
In the Year 1408 of the English Empire_

* * *

**Chapter Three: Anamnesis**

* * *

Usagi got up laboriously. School. Education. What a waste of time. Learning as her memories returned, she knew that, in going back, she would seem to be a completely different Usagi. Math, it seemed, was the same twenty thousand years ago as it was today. The formulas had looked different back then… different kanji for different letters and words. The concepts were the same though. 

Recently, Usagi grasped the knowledge of how to create blueprints for twenty story cylindrical buildings that would baffle modern architectural engineers; they could stand on their own with little repair for over eight centuries. Knowledge. Power. She was gaining them in strides. She knew she would never be a match for Ami in pure intelligence, but still even just that was saying something. This memory, one of how to build, was a good memory from her past life as Serenity's daughter.

Others though… others weren't such gentle memories. She hadn't dreamed of Halcyon since the first night. It had been four since she had been home and, while she hadn't dreamed of Halcyon, her nights had been filled with dreams of her past life. Particularly… educational ones…

"Usagi? What's wrong?" Asked her mother.

Usagi sighed and then, in an utterly flat tone, said, "I learned how to make a "Neptunian Stellar Explosive" last night, Mom. I also learned how to activate an ancient weapon system here on earth called the "Intheo's Spine" in the Himalayas, which was made to destroy Martian warships…"

Ikuko gulped a little. Time and time again she had asked what was wrong with her daughter but she'd never been given a straight answer. Now she was truly beginning to fear the changes in her young child. "U-Usagi… please. Tell me what happened when you were gone. Er… Just, tell me… what is happening to you? What is happening to my daughter?"

"I… nothing, Mom. It's nothing. Just some bad dreams." Usagi shrugged. "What's for breakfast?"

Ikuko's fears welled in her and guilt was a major factor as well. Guilt at not being able to help, was the worst. She sighed and looked at her daughter pleadingly. "Please, Usagi… I need to know what's wrong! I… I'm so worried… you wake up every day and watch the news. What are you waiting for? Where did my… little girl go?" Stuttering, Ikuko finished, her eyes wet with unshed tears.

Usagi turned away from her mother and looked down at her hands. A scar sliced across her right palm. Slowly she reached around and felt her back; lines of rough almost tainted skin where her wings grew slid vertically down her back rested there. They were scars from having the skin ripped off her body. She shivered as she remembered. The tearing sound that had echoed through her ears when Setsuna began to tear them out of her skin coming to memory like a flood. The lances of pain lacing through her back like a sewing needle being run through her veins, covering her mind. 'I am a completely different Usagi…' She thought sadly.

"I'm sorry, Mom." She murmured. "She watched her friends die… a few times too many."

Ikuko gulped again as she watched her daughter shiver. Then, Ikuko nodded. Giving in was the hardest thing for her to do but… she had no choice. Asking only seemed to drudge up more horrible memories for her daughter. "Just so you know…" Ikuko began softly. "I love you. Come on, it's Monday and I want you to go to school."

Usagi nodded. It wasn't school that Ikuko wanted. It was for Usagi to come back and, with some luck, Ikuko hoped Usagi would be knocked back into her usual way; she hoped that it would make the now un-bubbly blonde return to her happy, carefree attitude.

Usagi knew this, and she hated it. She hated understanding. She hated her newfound ability to read into the deepest intentions of people, both kind and cruel.

'It's why I made a good leader, isn't it?' She thought somberly. 'Why Serenity made a good leader…'

Hotaru rolled around on the bed and Usagi spared her a rather long glance. 'So much like her mother… she's sickly now but… just like her mother back then… Dalce… she will be stronger than stone…'

She strolled over to her daughter for a moment and let her fingers trace gracefully along Hotaru's cheek. 'God I wish I could stop this… will the memories ever stop?' She thought it unlikely. More and more came everyday. Everyday she saw someone in a new perspective. Everyday the attitudes and quirks of her own family's personalities became more comprehensible to her. More… exploitable.

Hotaru had become outgoing after the few days they had been here. She was getting along amazingly with Shingo. Which was good, great in Usagi's opinion. Shingo didn't care about her healing ability. He found it amazing actually. He of course, did not yet know of the fact that she was the Senshi of Saturn. Though in the end, Usagi didn't think he would care. His eyes were full of hearts for her when she wasn't looking, though Usagi thought she saw a blush on Hotaru's cheek every now and then.

She turned to her mother and nodded. "Love you too, Mom."

She walked around her mother without another word, heading for the bathroom.

She turned on the shower, turning the dials to her favorite temperature. Scalding hot, which had once been that favorite, caused her back too much pain so she kept the water at a lukewarm degree.

After shedding her clothes, she stepped in, thankful for the wonderful feeling of water washing over her. "Oh… this feels pretty good," She moaned to herself as the water ran over her.

Letting her thoughts wander she wished for even more comfort. "Mmm… wish I had the time to rest in one of the hummums, back at the palace…" She mumbled deliriously.

After five or ten minutes of simple relaxation, she stepped out of the shower and got dressed quickly. She wrapped a towel around her hair to let it dry for a while and began to brush her teeth. As she did this she saw her daughter walk lazily into the room. She was bedraggled and wearing nothing more than her pajamas, yet she was awake. Her hair, while a little uncouth, looked good enough to be out in. The child's eyes didn't have the bags beneath them that Usagi felt hers did.

"Hiya, Usagi-mama…" Hotaru panned. It was too early to be awake. "I heard, uh… I heard you are going to school today?" She asked tentatively.

A "Yes," was her reply. "Unless you want me to stay? It's up to you Hotaru."

Hotaru shook her head. "You go. I'll stay here."

Usagi was becoming so proud of Hotaru. Her brave little girl. Still she was so sad; she seemed so morose. Usagi felt like a horrible parent to the girl. She herself was bathed in a sea of depression by comparison to Hotaru's mere pond.

But still, Hotaru was strong. She would pull through. And Usagi knew that she herself, would too. She would be happy again someday. Just because Usa disappeared didn't mean that she wouldn't be born. It just meant that she was no longer in the past.

Usagi attempted a grin but the action fell so short of her emotions that all she managed was a grim imitation of a smile. Hotaru did notice though and in return, sent an actual grin back. Hotaru could grin; after losing her parents and her best friend Hotaru could grin…

'What does that say about me? My strength?' Usagi thought bitterly. Not much, she resolved.

Pulling on her clothes, now that her hair was _finally_ dry, she walked out of the room and down the staircase.

By some stroke of luck, or good planning, her father stood there holding a tray loaded with every breakfast food Usagi could think of. Sausage, eggs, pancakes, bacon, toast, milk, orange juice, and several other foods she could not remember the names for.

She took the plate and looked at her father with what she hoped he would take for a grin, just as she had with Hotaru. "Thanks, Dad,"

He smiled. "No problem, Usagi. But it wasn't me who cooked."

Usagi raised a questioning eyebrow. Who else cooked breakfast? She knew it hadn't been her mother. Ikuko couldn't cook well enough to give her the aroma that wafted across her senses.

"Who did?" She asked plainly.

"Who da' ya think, Meatball head? Where have you been?" Came a voice that Usagi had been longing to hear more than anything. Turning around, she saw him. He stood in the doorway to the kitchen with a pleasant smile on his face.

Suddenly all her troubles were in the back of her mind. All the worries, all the doubts, all the self hatred was gone in that one incredible moment when she finally saw him again.

"_Mamoru!_" She cried joyously. He was here! Finally!

Her food swiftly placed on the table, she was across the room in his arms faster than Setsuna's lightning bolts could move.

Unready for her assault, Mamoru barely caught her in his arms when she jumped. Childlike. Happy. Carefree. Finally she managed the grin. Finally…

Suddenly Usagi's eyes glazed over. A courtyard. Wide and open with the vastness of space looming above them, it lay on the farthest outskirts of the Moon. There she stood, staring into the eyes of her love, watching the Earth from far, far away.

A voice interrupted the calm tranquility of the moment. _'Stop this! You're acting like a child!'_ The voice rose in tone and anger. _'You will not be fooling around when there is work to be done! An empire to be run! Both of you! Endymion, your father will have words with you!'_

Mamoru suddenly felt the girl go rigid. "Usagi? W-what's wrong?"

Her eyes fazed back and instead of Endymion, Mamoru stood before her. Tears welled in her eyes and she immediately buried her face in his shoulder.

"Chancellor Evrens…" She murmured through sobs. "God, can't I even smile anymore? Can't I laugh, like everyone else? Damn… damn, damned memories! Damn it all!" She shouted into his shoulder. Her arms, which had fallen slack, lanced around him hugging him around the neck with a grip tighter than steel.

Mamoru didn't know what was going on but, whatever it was, it had made Usagi hysterical. Silently he patted her head, soothing her with gentle words. "It's ok, Usagi… it's ok… Come on... Settle down. Just… settle down. It's ok." He said. Her tears just flowed more.

"I can't even look at you without thinking of the past…" Usagi sobbed. "I just want it to _stop_!"

For a while, Usagi sobbed into his shoulder. She dimly noted that Hotaru stood watching at the top of the stairs. Another change. She noted Hotaru was there but she had never looked there. How could she possibly know Hotaru stood watching her when her eyes were covered completely in tears? What was happening to her?

Stifling her tears she let go of Mamoru gingerly.

"S-sorry… bout' that, Mamo-chan." Usagi hiccupped.

"Usagi. What's happened while I was gone?" He asked firmly yet affectionately. "I heard… I heard that Chibi-Usa went home. I'd hoped I could say goodbye but… I suppose I'll see her again someday, eh?" He smirked.

Usagi stared at her feet. "Y-yeah, Mamoru. We'll see her again someday."

"Mmm." He nodded. "So really, what happened while I was gone? I got home as fast as I could. Especially when I heard you were back! Heh. I guess the world knows about you now. How does it feel to be famous?"

His tone annoyed her. Repulsed her even, just for a moment. What right did he have to be so cheerful? Even though she knew he was just trying to make her happy… still. The feeling scared her. Anger? Not a common feeling for her, even with these memories.

"Not so good…" She replied softly, still edgy from her tears. "I'll tell you… all that happened later, ok?"

Ikuko stood in the entryway to the kitchen from the living room watching the exchange. A small pang of jealousy erupted in her at her daughter's words. This man could know what Usagi's own mother could not? He was part of it though, apparently. The past? Memories? Something was happening to her daughter and Ikuko silently swore to find out what.

"Alright!" Mamoru said. His tone was quite obviously a little bit faked in a hopeful attempt to get Usagi to cheer up.

It didn't work and only made Usagi even more annoyed. Did he think her a child? Someone to be babied and cheered by a happy face and smile?

"I… gotta go. I'm going back to school today. I'll see you all after. Thanks very much!" She said quickly, wanting to leave before her newfound temper sprung on those she least wanted it too. Glancing up at Hotaru she gave her a loving look. "I'll be back around three, okay Hota-chan?"

Hotaru only nodded.

"Bye!" Usagi shouted.

"Usagi! Your breakfast!" Mamoru shouted as he followed her out the door. It was too late though. She was already half way through the moat of reporters and cameras that surrounded their home.

Suddenly Mamoru felt a tugging on his leg. Looking down he saw Shingo, half dressed and weary eyed, eyeing the plate of food.

"I'll take it!" The boy exclaimed.

Mamoru sighed and handed over the plate

* * *

Ryoga walked slowly, watching his step. This place was weird and he didn't like it. For some reason he wasn't getting lost like he usually did either. Suddenly a guard stepped in front of him. 

"Who are you! Where is your Identification?" The man asked angrily. It was a big man, bigger than Ryoga, but in no way trained in the ways of Ki. Ryoga could fell the man with his pinky.

"I'm… lost. Can you help me get out of here?" Ryoga asked politely. He was lost honestly.

The man lifted an eyebrow. "I… suppose. Just, follow me." The guard said.

'How in the world did he get to the third floor without anyone noticing?' The guard thought as he led the man down stairs. The area was restricted to civilians but he supposed it was possible to get lost here.

After a minute or two of walking Ryoga was greeted with a view of an immaculate set of arched, iron doors that he knew he hadn't seen when entering.

"Wow…" Artemis commented but then shut his lips.

The guard looked back, and then, shook his head and kept on.

"Here is the exit. G'day." The guard said, now much more cheerful.

"Thank you!" Ryoga replied happily. Such a kind guard. From the first impression, and the fact that the man was enormous, Ryoga never would have thought him the kind sort of man.

Ryoga stepped outside the building and sat down on the steps. With that his cats instantly leapt up to their respective positions on his right and left shoulders.

"I can't believe we are in the capital city of America." Luna said in awe. Looking around the courtyard they saw hundreds of people milling about, most in business suits and other such formal states of attire.

Ryoga sighed. "Will I ever get home? I want to see Akari again soon. And Akane…"

Artemis looked over at Ryoga inquisitively. "Cheer up, Ryoga! We'll be home soon enough! You've said it yourself. You do always turn up in the right spot eventually."

Ryoga sighed despondently. "Yeah..." He muttered.

Without warning a roaring "crack" echoed throughout the courtyard. In the sky, higher than the tallest trees all the way down to the ground a sort of circular hole lay, shimmering. It held a smoky sort of blackness around it and seemed to draw on the very light itself, eating it. It suddenly ripped reality itself downwards like a line cutting through the very air. And instantly the line widened, slicing through everything it it's wake, right before Ryoga to as far left and right as he could see. In the distance, he saw a house sliced in half to his right. To his left, trees were cut in two by the widening gateway.

"What in—!" He exclaimed. There, through the gateway were things he hadn't seen in quite some time.

Trollocs. A multitude of trollocs.

Screaming erupted all across the field. The monstrous beings ran through the gate as soon as they could. Hundreds. Thousands. Blades flashed and Ryoga stared in mute shock as he saw below him people being sliced in two.

Screams erupted everywhere. Men and woman were cut down like grass. The beings had no care. Running. Killing. Taking _joy_ in their killing!

Ryoga shook himself as the rumbling of thousands of heavy feet began to beat into his eardrums.

Even through all this Ryoga couldn't speak. He couldn't even move, as shock and horror dueled for dominance over his facial features.

"Ryoga! Come on we have to get out of here!" Luna screamed, snapping him out of his shock.

Another voice rippled across the clearing ringing clearer then the other mindless pleas. "Oh god! Help! What's go— Aggh!" Her words were cut off by the blade that sliced open her throat.

Ryoga's eyes narrowed. Innocents were being killed. How had this happened? Where were they coming from?

Thousands stood behind those already entering the gate. Suddenly there were people behind him. Guards!

Suddenly a loud 'bang' echoed through his mind, deafening him. Gunfire.

Another bang. Another, and another! The sound of multiple bullets being fired rung throughout his ears.

The trollocs in the lead, not a hundred meters off, appeared to take them in stride. A few fell, those shot in the head, but most only grunted and pressed on. Bullets in those colossal arms were nothing. Not these bullets. They were pinpricks.

Ricochets echoed across the battle field. The pistols couldn't penetrate the armor, nor helmets. Only direct hits stopped these beasts; from his vantage Ryoga didn't think any of them were marksmen. Not in war…

The firing increased. More trollocs fell but slowly the firing was failing. They were using pistols! As soon as they ran out…

"Light!" Ryoga thought. They were all going to die. He looked across at the men lined up firing on the same step as him. They were terrified. The trollocs were moving like an avalanche of massive flesh, claws, beaks, muzzles and teeth, moving at full speed.

All of this in an instant. Ryoga knew what had to be done. He slung off his backpack and watched the advancing line. All he had to do was wait until the bullets stopped...

Sixty meters. Forty. Thirty. The simultaneous bangs of bullets became few and far between. Closer! They were so close! No time!

Ryoga watched the guards turn and run.

"Stay here, cats. I'll be back for you!" Ryoga exclaimed.  
The cats were backed against the railing, terrified, though Artemis had taken a protective stance around Luna. The white cat nodded reluctantly and Ryoga turned and dashed towards the area between the men and trollocs.

"You bastards!" He screamed, his voice echoing across the now blood-bathed field. It attracted the attention of more than one trolloc but not enough to matter much.

The filthy creatures were almost upon them! Seconds! No!

He came to a halt at the best point and felt his aura leave him. Scanning, he searched the ground. The point was there. He felt it shimmering like a beacon. He smiled. This would do.

"Bakusai Tenkatsu Revised!" He screamed. His finger touched the ground. Explosion rung in his ears louder than the gunfire as the ground under him blew out into a crater. It was line of explosion moving across from where he was to the trollocs, blowing up in their faces. A line of rock borne death.  
The ground erupted beneath them and trolloc screams echoed in Ryoga's ears. Whines and grunts and squawks bellowed from the front line but it didn't stop them for long. For the moment though, trolloc comrades were temporarily halted by the dead bodies of their own, in front of them, and the small chasm that now lay between them and the guards.

"Run, you idiots!" Ryoga screamed at the terrified men, some staring at him and some the beasts. "Get inside! Run! Now!"

The men turned and fled.

It took no more than a few moments until the trollocs were advancing once more, stepping over their dead, moving forward. Snarling. Growling. Squawking. Some had muzzles and some beaks. Some hooves for feet and some wore boots. Each different from the other. Twisted and sickening. He felt their vile, steamy breath stinging his eyes. Their aura's reeked of chaos and destruction and killing. It was all their demented minds knew.

Ryoga felt bile rise in his throat but held it down.

Ryoga covered the ground until he stood at the middle of the stairs, blazing across the ground like a whirlwind. And in that instant, he was a torrent of motion. His umbrella whipped around him, wailing on the bones, cracking them like twigs.

Screams echoed, but not human ones. He flowed through the twisted ones, guarding the doors to the building behind him. Whipping left and right, his fists tore through the flesh and broke their bones spewing blood all over himself.

Cloth headbands sliced through trolloc flesh like butter as he launched them repeatedly. Dodge, strike, kill, dodge. Deep within his element, he felt emotionless as he battled, waging his might against their legion. Thought was gone, and ki embodied him like flame.

He held the doors for seconds that seemed hours. He spun through blades, shattering them, for days that felt like minutes. After a time, impossible to judge how long, he vaguely realized that behind him, men were mobilizing. Their awe was gone, replaced by cold hard fury. He felt it burning in them.

With a flurry of motion his umbrella slammed into another trolloc neck. With that he was given a moment. Just a moment. Sweat glistened on him as he felt the first waves of fatigue. The stairs of the White House were littered with bloody, broken, dead bodies. Some men. More trollocs.

He looked around. Ten meters till the next wave of trollocs reached him. He had ten meters of rest. Suddenly he noticed the bodies. "I… did that?" He thought clearly for just a moment. Glancing at his left hand he saw one of the trollocs' scimitars rested in his hand. When did he pick that up? Blood coated the blade, and where blood coated the blade, it _bathed_ his umbrella.

Looking towards the rabid beasts he set his face. No time to look back now. No time to think. They would die. They would all die… "Demented foul creatures…" He said. With his hand he wiped a bit of trolloc blood off his cheek. He hadn't been hit yet and he didn't plan on it.

Suddenly he locked eyes with something in the hoard. Far below him… A black rider…

He remembered the things. He'd watched Ranma destroy them at the place called Tarwin's gap, almost two months ago.

Now, he fervently wished Ranma were with him again.

Fear raced through his heart but he held firm. He stood, and for a moment, he locked eyes with the Myrdraal. Letting his sword and umbrella slide into ready stances, he prepared himself for the next wave of trollocs. Still the Myrdraal held his mind. Fear ate at him. He fervently wished that he wouldn't meet the Fade in combat but whenever he looked down he saw the human-looking thing, striding toward him at a walk.

Anger welled up inside him. Anger at the fear he held for the Fade rose, washing away the very fear that fueled it. Words bubbled on the tip of his tongue, aching to be let free. "Carai an Caldazar! Al Caldazar!" He screamed, his voice echoing throughout the battleground.

His weapons and skill hadn't stopped them from advancing, nor had his technique. _That_ though… that made them hesitate. Ryoga took full advantage of it. He plowed through them, kicking necks and breaking spines with his umbrella. Slicing heads and skewering legs with the bloody blade.

Finally. Finally he saw fear in their eyes. All their attention was on him. The doors were no longer a concern for them. Innocents were safe, while he was alive. The rider? Where was the Fade? Thoughts came a mile per second. Left, duck. Swing. Jump. Three or four clangs emanated from behind them as they slammed down onto his defending umbrella.

A green aura enveloped him. The trollocs slowed, pensively, but snarled all the more. After a moment's hesitation several charged into him once more. He watched them advance and prepared to defend. Disgust filled his mind at the sight of the creatures. Bloody teeth snarled at him. Their eyes all burned with the desire to watch him squeal as they slit his throat.

The first sword came and he blocked. Then he expanded the umbrella to block several more blade swings, while kicking the first trollocs back onto it's allies ready blades. Without pause, he lobbed off their heads with a slice from the scimitar. Twisting he looked behind him.

He stood in the midst of them now, surrounded on all sides, yet still holding his own. Tired, yet not a scratch. Not a touch.

He dropped the dulled blade, finding it's once razor sharp edge now blunted, and reached for more bandanas launching, them into the hoard to kill a few more.

A muffled cry reached his ears. Human. He could do nothing though. Regardless he fought his way towards it. He was covered in blood. His matted hair, now dripping red. His clothes were stained beyond repair and his umbrella, had it not been red before, would be now.

Just then he realized he had forgotten the Fade. It wasn't a moment too soon, as right then a true blade whipped out at him. Straight and strong, steel like a moving wall. The Fade. Terror clenched his heart, yet he parried the blows steadily. A viper. It moved like a viper. Snakes made steel!

The dark coated Halfman had dismounted for full movement and readily sliced it's blade through just as many trollocs as Ryoga hit with his umbrella to get him. To _kill_ him. It's face, hidden partially by the hood, but revealed by the bright sun above them, showed the burned, twisted imitation of flesh. The thing looked like a torched cadaver.

Ryoga suddenly felt the fatigue grating at his bones worsen. Blocking the whip-like sword he was barely able to dodge the flying blades and axes.

He moved with ease borne of years of practice. That ease, though, was becoming more difficult by the minute. Another sword fell to the ground and he grabbed it and parried the vile blade of the Fade as fast as he could. He floated, lost in the battle. Palm of Sarwater met Eyes Sleeping, Red Hand Swift countered Will'o'the'Whisp. Maneuvers, attacks, techniques with the blade, learned long ago was what they were. Not this life. Not here. His new liberated scimitar met the Eyeless stroke for stroke, surrounded by the sea of trollocs.

Teeth, of enraged trollocs, bit at him as well now, but he had no problem breaking necks with his Umbrella.

The air was hot and musky like midsummer at noon, making his breath short and ragged. Sweat covered his body and the breath of trollocs wafted through his nose. He was surrounded in a sea of them. They were everywhere. They were all that existed. Just them, him, and the Fade.

A hollow clang echoed across Ryoga's ears. The Myrdraal twisted and, in a second, flashed his blade. Ryoga's umbrella went flying out of sight. The swings never stopped and Ryoga did his best to dodge. One wrong move. One wrong step and his head would be gone.

The Fade's blade sung one shrill note as it sliced downwards, catching him unaware. Pain erupted as he felt the blade run not a millimeter from his eye, slicing through his cheek and forehead.

He fell to the ground and rolled back away from the Fade. Another blade, instantly. Trolloc blade. He rolled to the left, hoping it would take him away from the Fade.

"No choice…" He thought. He could never kill them all. Not fighting like this he couldn't. Mentally he began to prepare himself for what was to come. No humans remained here except he.

Gunfire echoed throughout the battle field once more. Ryoga looked up and saw that the Fade was jolting and writhing like a snake. Bullets slamming into his body repeatedly and blood gushing out of the formless being. Bullets hurt the Fade!

A sigh of belated relief swept through him. "Reinforcements…" He murmured.

It was machine guns of some sort. Someone had gotten out machine guns! There were few sounds of ricochets off armor like there were before. And more trolloc screams had entered the air.

Ryoga stood, invigorated and dashed away from the machine gun fire to make sure he didn't get hit by a stray bullet, dodging sharpened blades as he went. He felt the people firing weapons into the mass. They were still on the building, near the doors. Far enough. Plenty far enough, he thought, for him to destroy them all.

Suddenly a loud whoosh alerted him to something happening towards the gateway where the trollocs had come from. He looked and saw that there no longer was a gate. It was gone.

Ryoga grinned maliciously. There was a limit to the beasts now.

Instantly his green aura surrounded him again, blazing like a bonfire.

"All the people you've killed already…" He murmured. His hands wafted together forming a cup shape, and his aura intensified.

The sky darkened with his words, yet the trollocs paid no mind to that. They swung at him but his aura stopped the blades where they landed.

All around them people lay dead, along with many trollocs that he himself had killed, stomped on by yet more trollocs.

"You sick creatures… what did they do to deserve deaths like these…?" Ryoga murmured as he surveyed the dead. Woman and children lay sprawled with blades sliced through their bodies.

A ball began to form, energy coalescing into life between Ryoga's cupped palms. Sound faded to a dull thrum and for a moment all he could hear or feel was the roar of his ki.

"Children… all dead… all dead…" He felt his voice reach the true state of ultimate depression.

The ball grew and now the trollocs noticed. Those who had swung and had their blades deflected saw it first and had turned to run, only to be stopped by the mass of other trollocs in the way.

"Perfect Shi Shi Hokodan!" Ryoga screamed. He voice, amplified by his ki, was heard by all. The ball of light blasted into the sky, and in that moment, exploded into a ball larger than the white house itself.

It hung there for a moment, drawing the attention of all present. Even the gunfire stopped as jaws dropped all around.

Then the ball came plummeting towards the Earth, crashing into it like a gigantic bomb.

Trollocs could not escape. They had no ki training like Ranma had. They were weak… as the monstrous ball of energy came down they were torn to shreds. Their armor melted, and their screams lasted for only moments before their bodies were incinerated.

The echoing rumbled through Ryoga as he embraced his emotionless state, protecting him from his own fiery depressive ki. The carnage that surrounded him didn't affect him. Their deaths… dying, burning. They could not touch him. He did not care about their deaths, their pain. He was emotionless. Stone among the lilies. And the trollocs were not the stone. Not here.

Seconds or hours later, Ryoga couldn't tell, the light, swirling purple and green light that had encased him in that vast emotionless expanse, disappeared.

He looked around at the carnage. He was in the bottom of a crater. What lay on the outside of the crater, he didn't know.

Bullets still echoed again but they didn't matter. Nothing mattered. His legs were jelly and his arms were weak and saggy. He slumped to the ground.

"Heh heh, beat that, Ranma…" He chuckled.

Men walked over the edge of the crater, holding enormous guns. He could barely make them out… barely as his eyes closed.

"Beat that… Ranma…" He repeated. "For the Honor of the Red Eagle…"

Then, consciousness left him.

* * *

"So Usagi! What's it like? You know? Saving lives every day?" She was asked for the umpteen billionth time. 

"Swell," She said dryly.

Suddenly Rei squeezed through the throng of people following Usagi like a dog. "Hey come on you guys! Leave her alone!" She screamed. "Can't you see that she's sick of people dogging her?"

Surprisingly, it worked. The crowd was disgruntled but they agreed. And they didn't particularly wish to annoy someone who'd saved the lives of almost all of them at one point or another.

"See you in class, Usagi!"

"Yeah! See you!" Came cries from her friends as they left her.

When they were gone Usagi sighed. "Whew… thanks Rei… wait. Rei? What are you doing here?" She asked surprised.

"What? Can't I come to school here, too?" Rei asked. "I was wondering when you were going to show up! It's been four days since you went home!"

Rei had apparently switched schools. "B-but, why? You were in a great school! Why did you want to come here?"

Rei smirked. "You, meatball head. Why else? Plus, I plan on sharing the burden of discovery with you. That way everyone won't be dogging you. Ami's up today. She's going to reveal herself."

"What? Why?" Usagi asked surprised.

Rei thought for a moment. "A lot of people suspect anyways. What with this scar and all." She started, pointing at the scar along her right eye. "Ami was obvious though. When she got to her house, her mom figured it all out almost immediately. All of us gone for two weeks. Might as well have left a sign that told exactly who we were."

"Poor Ami…" Usagi sighed. 'My fault.' She thought bitterly. 'Another, my-fault.'

"Heh. She likes it, Usagi. Her new haircut, I mean. What she feels the worst about was the computer. She thinks she won't be any help at all now…" Rei told.

"That's not true!" Usagi shouted. "She's the smartest person I've ever met!"

"Same here." Rei murmured. "But she still feels like she'll be useless from now on…"

"No. She'll go all out like she always does. She'll build a new one and a new link to the database at the moon if she has to. I-I remember back when she accidentally blew up the entire north garden! She—" Usagi stopped, clapping a hand over her mouth.

Rei held an introspective look on her. "Go on…?" Rei questioned.

Usagi gulped and lowered her hand slowly. "Once… she blew up the North Garden of the Moon Kingdom while experimenting with… uh… something. She… To make up for it, she built the Blue Garden. It… heh, it was a garden that spanned over a hundred square miles… She had to build it in space and place it down where the North Garden used to be. It took her six years…"

"Wow… you've… uh. Been remembering?" Rei asked, uneasily.

Usagi nodded. "So many memories… I remembered that two months ago… I can hardly hold on to who I am anymore! Mamoru came back today and I couldn't look at him without thinking of… Endymion. All the times I was scolded for falling in love. Even if he was my betrothed, I wasn't allowed to see him. Just be seen with him so as to try to unite Earth and the Moon Kingdom in the eyes of the people. You know how well that went…" She mumbled sadly.

Rei looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time. Then her expression changed completely to the light, sunny one that she wore.

"Oh come on! Cheer up! It's not all bad, Usagi… There is still… you still have Mamoru and Hotaru… us…" She said, though her tone fell lower with every word.

Usagi looked down, perhaps even more disgruntled. "I still failed…"

Usagi suddenly grasped her head. Headache? Or a strong memory? She wasn't sure yet but she doubted the former. Pain laced through her mind in spasms, each bringing new pictures. They floated into her mind in an instant. The chosen protector over Uranus.

"Min… Min Farshaw…" She murmured deliriously.

Short hair, bright in color. Dark eyes, tomboyish attitude. Infatuated with some man called the Dragon. She didn't seem Japanese at all… gaijin. She was a foreigner but that mattered little to Usagi.

Snapping out of her reverie, Usagi blinked at Rei. And then somehow, she smiled. Of all the things to cheer her up, it took an entire planet! All from some ironic… image that was more a thought. It wasn't like a picture. Nor was it like speech, nor thought. It was… feeling. The feeling being conveyed to her… somehow. Like subliminal messages…

"Usagi?" Rei questioned, uneasily.

Usagi's grin blossomed. She didn't laugh, but she smiled at least. "The planet of Uranus is attracted to tomboys…"

Rei, and several other listeners, stared at her in mute shock and confusion for a moment.

Then Rei burst out laughing.

Hours passed and school ended as it always did. Not quite as it always did. Most of the time students didn't leave school annoyed at reporters trying to get interviews from them. A few stopped and gave interviews, professing their lifetime of friendship with Usagi. Many just ignored them, and some outright spit on them.

"Tough day for a reporter, eh Usagi?" Makoto asked firmly. As she watched students pushing press aside to get out of the gate.

Usagi had been far more cheerful since that morning when she had found out who her new protector was. She was glad for that. A small hope. She would have to find a way to contact the girl. Find where she was at the very least. Not Tokyo. That was for sure. What few images Usagi saw of her new Senshi showed a girl in a jail cell.

But if the planet and magic chose her, Usagi trusted her to be true. That was the way of it. That was how it had always been. She would dispel a Senshi if she was inadequate, and the planet would choose a new one.

'Why?' She thought idly.

"Yeah. Tough day." She sighed. She was surrounded by her friends, and she was not yet to the gate. The stage that had been in the courtyard when she had first introduced herself to the world had not been moved and she was glad for that.

"Are you really sure about this Ami?" Usagi stopped and turned to the blue haired girl. Ami looked different. Her hair was shorter still than it had been, yet she still held her shy beauty. Her bruises had healed, black eyes turned to their normal shade. Her face was firm and strong.

"Of course, Usagi. I'm sick of all this secrecy, anyway." She sighed. "Well. Goodbye normal high school life." She joked with a strained smile.

Usagi returned it. It was getting easier to smile. Minako wouldn't be happy knowing she was sulking like this. It wasn't her way. Life goes on…

"Well. Here we go." Usagi said.

She walked up onto the stage followed closely by Ami.

Usagi was no expert but her memories served her well. She had been learning how to use the power that Plu— Setsuna had first begun to teach. Saidar. The one power that felt so agonizingly glorious to draw on. She embraced it, letting her memory lead her. Surrendered to the serene river that was Saidar. Then she subtly began to move the weaves, as she had been taught then, in the past.

Her most common weave. Pulling threads of air and spirit together in her throat. "Uh… excuse me? Everyone! H-Hi!" She said calmly, drawing the attention of those walking home. Everyone turned. Even the guards turned to see.

Usagi's voice, though calm like normal speech, boomed across the field, understandable to all ears. The weave served her well.

"I know that the other Senshi weren't introduced like we said they would be. So, we've decided that we've kept you all waiting long enough. I'd like to introduce you all to Ami Mizuno. Sailor Mercury."

Ami smiled nervously. "H-hi… everybody." She said calmly. Her voice however, did not echo. Regardless, Usagi's speech drew a cheer from the audience. Some shouting at her to transform, some just happy that they would find out who she was. Ami had been no slouch in saving civilians. None of them had.

_"Mercury Crystal Power Make-up!"_ She cried her phrase into the audience. The transformation swept over her as she danced with the water once more.

In an instant that felt an eternity, she was once more, Sailor Mercury.

"He-hello." She echoed, loudly this time, but still nervously.

The crowd cheered this time. No shock or awe, but plenty of amazement. Once Usagi had been named the others sort of fell into place. Makoto and Minako had been named too, when they had temporarily died.

"Th-thank you very much!" Mercury exclaimed. She was on edge, half expecting an angry girl to leap from the top of the school building. Slowly she climbed down of the stage and found that the guards who had previously surrounded the gate, were now surrounding her and Usagi.

"Sir?" Usagi asked questioningly to the one that appeared to be in charge. A few guards still stood at the gate, keeping the press out. "What are you doing?"

"Escorting my daughter's savior home, Miss Moon." Then he turned to Ami as the other guards held students and people alike away from them. He knelt and bowed his head reverently. "Thank you for saving my daughter from one of the demon attacks on the park about half a year ago. I don't suppose you would remember but she was terrified of leaving the house for months after that. She said Sailor Mercury saved her life and… I'm in your debt. I feared she wouldn't be alive without you, so… thank you."

Mercury blushed furiously. "Y-you're welcome!" She uttered quickly.

A crowd followed them to Usagi's home. Mercury had decided to go home with Usagi, to speak with her about something.

Mercury refused to speak to anyone after that, as did Usagi. A constant blush of her cheeks as cheers and shouts echoed through the crowd, told Usagi that Mercury really did enjoy the attention though. Embarrassed, certainly. But she did enjoy it.

They walked up the few steps and entered the door casually. The other scouts had all gone their separate ways to get home and only Mercury and Moon resided here.

* * *

Haruka was not a meek person… not by any means. But she knew when she was foolish. When she was wrong. While she stood well-founded in her belief in Setsuna, she should have known better then to insult Usagi. 

'I couldn't have known she'd have that sort of ability!' She thought, more a sort of ploy at self-reassurance than anything else.

The truth of it was that she was an idiot. Plain and simple. She had no choice now. She'd have to find them. Apologize and try to make amends. She had too. Hotaru was with Usagi. Her _daughter_ was with Usagi. And Michiru had not returned.

"God… why? Why am I such and idiot?" She wondered aloud. It drew a few stares from random people surrounding her but she didn't care.

She strode with purpose and determination. She was in the park, nearby Usagi's home. Flowers littered the grass of all types and colors, making the park one of the most beautiful places that Haruka could remember.

Grass grew between the cracks in the sidewalk, and a grove of vines, aged for years, grew up to make an incredible archway over the path. Upon exiting the archway of vines and leaves she was greeted with the sight of the lake and yet more flowers.

It was spring again. An early spring this year. The winter had been rather weak, with hardly a bit of snow. Not a month ago she had been Haruka Tenoh, great racer extraordinaire, and pocket Sailor Senshi. Also, she had been a father… sort of… to Hotaru. She took the more fatherly role at least.

Well… she still raced at least… But now it was the side job. She'd lost her edge too. "No longer focused." "Failing at simple things." Those were comments about her lately in the magazines. "Possible link to the disappearance of one Michiru Kaioh."

'No possible there…' She thought idly. It was all due to that. It wasn't the loss of her power that upset her now. Not the loss of her power… but the fact that her being a Senshi had linked her to Michiru. Without that there was no close link anymore. No bond…

A tear slid down Haruka's face. "I gotta find them…" She thought.

She moved forward. She'd been afraid for a while. It had been four days since Usagi returned, and she hadn't been able to work up the nerve to confront her about Hotaru and Michiru.

"I gotta find her…"

She cleared the park quickly. Turn, walk a block, turn again. It wasn't driving but it wasn't slow either. Soon she turned and was greeted with a rather expected sight.

Usagi was at her doorstep, walking forward into the house. Sailor Mercury, followed behind her. Neither had seen her. Reporters in suites and cameramen in various clothing of whatever type all lay scattered about around the entrance, yard, and road.

Unlike before though, now others were here as well. Fans, young and old, in all states of dress and look resided there. Little tykes, parents, grandparents, even a few burly men all were, somehow, in the small area that was their yard. The street was clotted and several officers blocked the road and guided traffic, what little there was in this area of Tokyo.

Haruka steeled herself. This would not be easy. But she already knew that.

Taking the next block at a stride, she began to push the crowded media and fans out of the way, effortlessly. Walking through them, she was anointed with the grotesque odor of sweat, heat, and too many people in the same place.

It bothered her little though. She had experienced worse. She plowed through until she reached the door. Several reporters had noticed her but little paid mind until she walked onto the doorstep.

"That's Haruka Tenoh! The famous racer!" Someone shouted.

Haruka blanched. That was… unexpected, but camera's began to flash in an instant. Her face heated but she remained calm. She had something more important.

Ignoring the white flashes walked toward the door and knocked loudly several times.

Reporters jumped on her. Now that someone had made a move onto the doorstep, fear of Ikuko and respect for Usagi were forgotten. Microphones were pressed up to her mouth and questions were asked so fast that Haruka couldn't hear or comprehend anything.

"Why me?" She thought as she backed up to the door, pressing her back against it. She'd never been… truly fond of publicity. Thrill, yes. Public affection for her love of thrill? No.

The door opened suddenly and a hand laced out and grabbed her around the waist, yanking her inside.

She fell unceremoniously on her bottom, annoyed and pleased at the same time. She looked up to find a middle aged woman, probably about seven to ten years older then herself, staring down at her. Her long, bluish, dark hair had a wavy feel to it, similar to Michiru's, though not quite as refined. She wore a rather comely outfit and had the face of a caring parent. It was easily legible.

"I… ah… thanks…" Haruka murmured.

"Don't mention it. Uh… who are you?" The woman asked.

Haruka didn't know how to respond. This was quite obviously Usagi's mother, Ikuko. But, they'd never met before and Ikuko most likely didn't know of her relationship with Usagi.

"I'm… here to see Usagi…" She stuttered. "And… Hotaru. I'm, Haruka Tenoh…"

Ikuko nodded for a moment, but then suddenly her eyes bulged. "You… wouldn't be the little girl's… father would you?" The woman asked. Her tone was calm yet with an edge to it that made the tension almost tangible. Haruka could swear she felt the temperature drop.

"I… In a way." She said. She looked like a man. She always had, and did so on purpose so she could race. Short blond hair had always made it pretty easy to disguise her gender. Quite a few people knew her true gender but Ikuko did not. "I think of her as my daughter… I love her."

A deafening _crack_ rebounded across the room as much as Haruka's face rebounded from the shorter woman's slap. It wasn't so much the slap that hurt, but that her head slammed into the wall of the small entryway with a loud thump.

Haruka was a strong girl. She could take a slap. But… "Ow!" She moaned as she peeled herself off the wall. "What the hell was that for?" She shouted turning around to glare in the now cold-eyed woman's face.

"For abandoning your daughter when you should have been there for her!" Ikuko shouted.

Haruka felt like she was slapped again. Though this time the attacker had put effort into it. Her face paled. "I… I would have… I tried… I…"

"Mom…" Came a small voice that somehow held more sternness than Ikuko's had.

Ikuko turned to face her daughter standing in the living room. "Usag—"

"Let me handle her, mom." Usagi said in a voice Haruka had never heard from her. "She isn't your problem."

Ikuko was confused. "Her…?" She questioned.

Usagi ignored her and strode towards Haruka. "How are you doing, Haruka?"

Being blunt was Haruka's way. No small talk would happen today. "Where is Michiru? And Hotaru! I don't care about the Senshi powers… but… You must let me see them!"

Ikuko gasped a bit in sudden surprise, but then quickly recovered. Not knowing what else to do, Ikuko backed off slightly watching the events unfold. Her glare remained fixated on Haruka though.

Ami sat on the living room sofa, sipping freshly made tea, it seemed. She gulped a little at the mention of Michiru.

Usagi didn't say anything. The only thing that conveyed any emotion was a sudden cough.

They walked into the living room, silently, each waiting for the other to speak. Haruka sat down on the sofa opposite Ami, while Usagi sat beside her. Ikuko decided to stand in the entryway.

"Usagi…" Haruka began, with worry etched across her face. "Where are Michiru and Hotaru?"

Usagi looked for a moment, at Ami, who returned it with only another look. Sympathy. Then they both turned to Haruka, and both their eyes reddened.

"Haruka…" Usagi began. "I guess… the best way to begin is to say… you were wrong about Setsuna." Usagi gulped.

A feeling rose in Usagi's throat. The guilt. The shame. This was a conversation she had been dreading almost as much as the confrontation with the Tendo family. Maybe more.

Haruka's eyes widened. They were… right? "W-what happened?"

"When we arrived on Pluto… Setsuna attacked us. We entered her castle and she attacked us." Ami stated suddenly. "It was so sudden, that we couldn't help her… She… I—"

Usagi interrupted suddenly, "Haruka… when we fought Setsuna… she attacked us with the intent of killing us all, like we were nothing more than simple pawns in a great scheme of hers. And… she succeeded…"

"What?" Haruka gasped. Shock enveloped her. Pluto had tried to kill them? Succeeded? All of them? She would never… she wouldn't…!

"No! No Pluto wouldn't do that! She's… she…" Haruka trailed, trying to come up with a defense for her green haired compatriot. She'd known Setsuna since the beginning! She would never do that!

"Venus is dead, Haruka." Usagi said. "We told her parents a while ago. They haven't buried her yet. Her funeral is tomorrow… I… I hope you're coming…"

Haruka caught her breath. "Minako? Dead? Minako is _dead!_"

Usagi gulped, guiltily. "She isn't the only one who died..."

If Haruka's eyes were wide before, now if she looked down they would fall from their sockets. "M-mi…Michiru?"

Usagi only looked away… "I'm… sorry, Haruka…"

Haruka didn't know what to do. All she could do was stare, pale-faced, at the girl who would one day be queen. The girl lying to her. She had to be. "You lie! You… You can't be…"

Usagi turned and faced her. Tears trailed her cheeks in streams once more. Eyes of pain and suffering and grief.

'She's dead. My… Michiru is dead? That… that couldn't be… _can't_ be!' Haruka told herself. She refused to believe it. Refused to even think about it.

'Dead?' The thought came to her against her will. 'No! It's not possible!' Even with her denials a sense of dread began to fill Haruka. She pushed it away fiercely. Michiru could _not_ be dead.

"H-Hotaru? Where is Hotaru?" Haruka screamed.

"I'm here…" Hotaru said quietly.

The small girl strode down the stairs at an uneven tempo. Then, she turned the corner around the staircase and stalked right up onto Haruka, staring at her with eyes as cold as Ami's Ice. "What are _you_ doing here? Traitor! Why are you here now when you could have helped save Michiru-mama, then?"

Yet another shock. Then, anger. "Usagi took my power! How could I have been there?" She exclaimed, glaring at the young child.

Hotaru didn't know how to answer and that just made Haruka more angry. Her head blazed towards Usagi. "And you! Why would you do that? You were going to fight on Pluto and you took away any chance of me helping! I could have protected her! I could have—"

"Stop it, Haruka!" Hotaru shouted angrily. "For all Usagi knew, you would have _joined_ Setsuna! Don't you dare blame her for what happened… She got hurt worse than any of us!"

It struck her like a bolt of lightning. Hotaru, calling her just… Haruka? No papa suffix? But she wouldn't back down now.

"Calm down! C-come on! Calm down!" Ami tried to interrupt. Usagi just sat, starring blankly at her hands.

"No! I did exactly what Usagi told me to do! I thought for myself! It was _Usagi_ who was acting strange! _Usagi_ who was changing! Not Setsuna! I trusted my instincts and got stripped of my ability to protect her! It's not my fault and I won't take the blame! And the hypocrite…" She said, indicating Usagi, "She told us to think for ourselves, but of course, only if it wasn't against _her_!"

"She was right though! She—!"

"No." Usagi interrupted solemnly. "No I wasn't. I was wrong. Maybe if I'd let her keep her powers… maybe then… Michiru and Minako would still be alive." She didn't mention Usa. No need to bring that up. From the look on her face, Usagi could tell that her mother was more confused than she'd ever been in her life.

"Or maybe she'd have joined Setsuna and killed us all. She seemed willing enough. All that evidence pointing directly at Setsuna but you still followed her!" Hotaru screamed. "I hate you, Haruka! You let Mama die!"

And with that, Hotaru rushed back up the stairs.

Haruka fell back on the couch, not recalling having ever stood up… Michiru was dead and her daughter hated her. Her fault… her…

"A child can't understand, Haruka. She is smart… and she's incredibly strong willed. But she's still just a little kid. She can't understand how little you're at fault. I'm sorry about Michiru. And also about my… mistake." Usagi said.

Her face was stern once more. A mask. No joy hung there. No carefree happiness like the Usagi, Haruka had known. "I... Usagi I… I'm sorry, I—!"

"It's no more your fault than hers. Setsuna is the only one to be blamed here. And me. I was hypocritical, and everything you said was true. I'm sorry… but I can't give your powers back…"

"What? Why not! I… Usagi please…! I need… I need to at least be able to protect Hotaru… even if she hates me… I love her! Please… Princess…"

Usagi sighed solemnly. A sigh of age… weariness. "I can't, Haruka. It's not something I can do. I choose whether my guardians are fit or not… the planets choose them. And your powers have already been given to another. I'm… sorry… Haruka."

Tears began to well in Haruka's eyes. What could she do? She'd lost Michiru! If that wasn't enough her _daughter_ hated her!

"… Please…" She begged. Her eyes were shut tight and her pride was shambles. But she had no choice.

Suddenly Ami stood and walked to Haruka. She embraced the girl, in what she hoped was a compassionate hug. And it worked. Haruka held the blue-haired girl like a lifeline.

"She's dead…" Haruka wailed deliriously. Bitter tears came to her eyes as she began to comprehend what had truly happened. Her heart raced, and her mind grasped, trying to understand which was worse: The love of her soul dead, or the love of her life hating her. Fear and realization together gripped her like a vice of sorrow and regret. "She's… I'll never… see her again… Please let me… protect my daughter…"

Ami thought about responding. But she wasn't an emotional person. Anything she said would probably just make it worse. It was probably worse for Haruka than any of them. Ami felt like she'd lost an eye or a limb when she thought of Minako's death. One of her best friends... and yet, they had not been lovers. Haruka and Michiru… they had been.

Ikuko had been watching the whole time. Her face was stoic but her emotions were heated. Minako… Minako was the Senshi of Venus. It was common knowledge but no one knew that she had died! And apparently this… Michiru. She had died as well. And Setsuna… the school advisor? That was the only Setsuna she knew. Setsuna Meioh. Come to think of it… she'd been gone as well… She betrayed them?

But she didn't say anything. What could she say? What comfort could she give?

And then the door burst open front door burst open. For a moment the sounds of reporters, fans, and cameras were audible. Then, the door shut.

"Usagi!" Came a distressed, exhausted gasp. "Usagi! It's… Haruka!"

Makoto stood in the doorway, breathing heavily with Mamoru right behind her. "The Americans are under attack! They're being invaded!" Mamoru shouted, not caring about Haruka, as Makoto did.

Usagi blinked. America? What?

"The Americans are under attack! Monsters are popping up all over the place there! They're asking for help! Turn on the TV!" She shouted fiercely.

Usagi moved quickly. She'd been watching for Setsuna's return. They all had. Just in case. But this was… unexpected. The Americas?

She pressed the power button on the remote and the small television set up in the living room blinked on. Haruka had wiped her eyes and was now trying to pay attention to the television. Trying harder to keep from crying again. Ami was watching too.

All that greeted them was static.

"What's going on?" Usagi asked, mirroring Makoto's thoughts.

"That's weird. When I left my house my TV worked fine. It was at the White House. The president was speaking nationally, asking for help! From any and all nations. They said that almost all their major cities were being invaded!" Mamoru piped in.

"Yeah, same here. We met up on the way." Makoto said, still breathing hard as if having run the whole way.

"We have to go then." Usagi said. "Monsters though? What kind of Monsters?"

"They showed a picture of them." Mamoru replied, quickly. "They were, beasts. Hundreds of them. Thousands, from an overhead view, flying right above New York City!"

"The difference is that they don't seem to be after any energy like our last enemies." Makoto piped in. "They just kill. Thousands are dying as we speak; the reporter in the helicopter sounded terrified."

"There are thousands of these!" Usagi exclaimed. "Why? Why are they invading and where did they come from?"

Suddenly picture booted to life on the television.

A video appeared on her screen. It appeared as if there were a rip in the very fabric of reality. A momentous square cut out from the sky that extended far into the horizon. It was a view from the helicopter again, looking at a large expanse where the blue, midday sky of their world was cut off. It was blackness. The darkness of nighttime on the other side. And the monsters were rushing through on the ground.

"It looks like Setsuna's gates…" Makoto murmured. "Just… _huge_!"

In the sky, creatures flew forth from the rip. Manlike creatures, too large to be a man, with bat-like wings and huge eyes. They soared the sky, some coming within feet of the helicopter.

"W-what in the…?" Ikuko murmured.

"Does this have anything to do with Setsuna?" Usagi asked sternly of Ami, hoping the girl could come up with a guess. She watched as the camera view turned down. The helicopter was close enough to see the creatures… see their scimitars and cudgels slicing and bashing humans. Some men fought back with pipes, guns, and a few even held liberated trolloc swords.

But looking across the city she could see that the beings were killing. A small picture. But it was easy to see that the city was failing.

New York would burn if something was not done.

A sound beeped suddenly, and they all blinked. An image appeared on the screen. The President of the United States. "—gland! France! China Japan! I ask anyone with mobilized ability to send weaponry and men! We were unprepared for such and invasion and they destroyed almost all our military encampments within the first hour! They… they would have destroyed the White House as well… please! I beg of you! Respond! Help us!" And suddenly, the video stopped, and began to repeat itself.

Haruka saw the television, but she didn't really see. Her eyes were wet and the feeling of guilt rising in her throat gripped every sense she had. "She's gu-gone… my fault… god, forgive me… Princess… I…" She murmured to no one, staring at the television but seeing nothing.

"So the America's need help. Now what?" Mamoru asked, despondently. "We're used to enemies coming but almost always one at a time! What can we do against armies in America?"

Usagi sighed, exasperated. The answer wasn't obvious to him? "We go there and do what we can."

"_No!_" Ikuko shouted, unable to contain it. "I won't! I won't let you go off again on some battle! You are staying here!"

Usagi leveled a stare at her mother, not angry. A resigned stare, and replied calmly, "Mom, what else do you propose? If America is being invaded then who do you think they will attack next? If anyone can stop monsters, we can."

Ikuko gulped and leveled her own stare at her daughter. "You're _not_ going. That is final." It was a deep tone that demanded no argument.

Usagi put her hand fourth towards her mother and a small sliver of light entered her fingertips.

Ikuko's glare turned to surprise. "Usagi! You… you…"

And Ikuko's eyes drifted shut. She plummeted towards the couch to fall next to Haruka, who had stopped paying attention to them long ago, her face buried in her hands.

Staring wide eyed at Usagi, the Senshi almost forgot the television completely.

"I won't let innocent people die. Not again. Not ever again. Especially not if it's Setsuna's doing. We're going… Haruka. Can you take care of Hotaru? I'll not have her come this time. It looks like it will be dangerous, and she has more important things to worry about."

Haruka looked up, her eyes red with tears. "Mmm!" She nodded, half crying, half certain.

"Are you guys with me?" She asked, looking across at the Senshi.

Makoto was looking, not at Usagi, but at Ikuko, laying on the couch. "Usagi… your mom…"

"Are you with me?" Usagi demanded cracking her voice like a whip.

"I'm with you, Princess." Ami said strongly.

"Me too, of course." Mamoru said. "I'm not gonna be left out of this one!"

Makoto only nodded, her eyes still on Ikuko.

Usagi turned her gaze back to Haruka. "Try and repair your relationship with Hotaru. You're a father to her, and I really wouldn't want her to lose that. She's hurting even more than me. She needs you whether she thinks it or not."

Turning, she brought forth the crystal that was always with her.

_"Moon Eternal Make-up!"_ Usagi cried, loud enough to be heard outside. Her transformation enveloped her in the dazzling blaze of light that she always felt when she transformed.

The others followed suit, their own transformations enshrouding them in light.

When it was done, the Senshi, and Tuxedo Mask stood there, ready.

"Come on, gather. Were going to the shrine. We need to get Rei." She said. Her face was set. She wouldn't let innocents die. She'd save as many as she could.

'The light blind you Setsuna… I know this is your doing.' She thought. She wouldn't have mercy. If she ever saw Setsuna again, she would aim to kill.

She moved to grab their hands but suddenly, sharp pain entered her mind. She knew what it was this time. The other Senshi. Pluto had chosen her Senshi. Images floated into her mind. Images that were not images. Like subliminal messages.

"Keika…" She murmured. "It's Keika… Ranma's daughter…" She held her head. Knowing what it was lessened the pain.

Long hair, bright red like Ranma's had been. Hanging low, she saw the girl, encased in shadows. She was naked, and moving, fighting someone… Ranma she knew.

"Keika…" She murmured loud enough for the others to hear.

"Keika? Ranma and Akane's daughter?" Ami asked quizzically.

"She's older… wherever she is, she's grown now. Our age…" Usagi muttered, as she shook her head to somehow 'fix' the odd image placed there. "She's the new Senshi for Pluto. The new Senshi of Time."

Usagi could look, up in her room where she kept it, but she knew without a doubt that the Staff, key to the time gates, would be gone.

Jaws had dropped all around, but Mamoru didn't understand at all. "Who's Keika?" he asked awkwardly.

Usagi sighed. "We don't have time. We have to go _now_."

She took Makoto's hand and motioned for Ami to take her own. They did so and as soon as they were all linked in a circle, save for Haruka who watched with unseeing eyes glazed over with anguish and torment, they began to glow.

A few moments later they simply vanished, leaving Haruka alone to her misery. Without the others around, she was left to her own thoughts. Her love was dead. The love of her life was dead. It only just now seemed to sink in. She sat down on the couch, next to the fallen form of Usagi's mother, and placed her head in her hands once more.

'Michiru's dead, and it's my fault.' The thought entered her mind, and would not leave.

'Michiru is dead, and it's my fault.' The thought came again, and wouldn't leave her alone. A voice, banging in her mind like a hammer. Guilt welled inside her like a flooding river.

'Michiru's dead, my fault… Dead… fault…'

It consumed her, until the guilt was all she knew. Tears came and she didn't try to hold them back. Laying on the arm of the couch she circled her arms around her head, and tried desperately to ward off the guilt and depression as well as the afternoon light.

"She'd dead… she's dead… she…" Haruka murmured, repeated the despairing words over and over again.

And suddenly, a blue bauble appeared in the room. Deep and dark in hue, the bauble floated. A small ball of water, no larger than a baseball.

Haruka saw nothing. Felt nothing, until suddenly the bauble entered her, merging into her arm and flowing directly to her very core. Her eyes widened and she sat up, gasping in mute shock.

_"I love you, Haruka. Now and forever. Protect our daughter…"_ Came a voice. It was heavenly and lyrical, resounding a hundred times over in her mind. But none of it mattered.

It was Michiru.

She didn't care for the pain. She was dimly aware of it, and of her screaming, but she did not care. All she knew was the joy of basking in the glow of that voice.

"I…"

It was beyond words. All Haruka could do, was sit, and feel. Michiru surrounded her. The blue haired woman's very essence and soul permeated within Haruka. And she felt warm.

_"I'm always here… I'll always be here, Haruka."_

And then, the light was gone. Haruka knew no more, as she slumped down, to lay next to Ikuko, sleeping.

* * *

"Come on! Don't dawdle! He has no time! Jeez! This guy really weighs four hundred and seventy five pounds? What in god's name?" 

English words, Ryoga knew. They were English. He had a fondness for the language as its curse words were simply the best words for shouting your pain.

With awareness came numbness. Not pain. Just a sore feeling. A feeling of being… broken. He'd felt it many times before. Ranma had made sure of that. But this was no ordinary break of the body.

He was being moved, he realized. Slowly but they were moving him on a stretcher. He lay on his back and white lights flashed each time he passed one.

The ceilings were bare white as were the walls. Looking around, he could see people but their faces were blurred and obscured by weariness. "Wh-what 'appened… Cats…" He mumbled trying to get one of them to speak to him.

"His blood pressure is normal but he has a fever. He may be blind on that left eye, but I don't think the sword touched it. I think it just sliced his cheek and brow. Did you get that bandage for the gash in his left leg?"

The words ran together, molding and forming sentences that didn't seem to make any sense. What had happened to him? What was going on?

"Where?" He tried to shout but it came out as a hoarse whisper.

Suddenly a face bent in front of his. "He's conscious!" It screamed. A woman. Definitely.

"Where…" he drawled. His mind was numb and his body ached. Where was he? Who were these people? Doctors? They all wore white coats as if they were.

"He seems fine at first glance sir!" Someone reported. They were still moving. "The gash on his leg is bleeding but it'll stop soon and whatever he did to kill those… things… doesn't seem to have affected him too much. His breathing is normal but he has a horrid fever. His temperature is through the roof!" A man this time talking.

Ryoga's world lurched as they turned a corner. Sick? He was sick? From what? The… oh god… the Myrdraal. It's sword hit him! He knew a little of the Myrdraal's blade's power from Lan.

_"Those struck by a Myrdraal's blade boy? Well, you'd best not get hit if you know what's good for you. You get hit with one of those and they'll be digging you're grave before you're dead… Trolloc blades are almost as bad, but their poison can be healed… slowly, but it can be healed."_ Ryoga remembered the words as if they were spoken two day's before.

'I'm gonna die,' He thought blearily.

"Hello once more…" He heard. A sudden pressure appeared on his stomach. His eyes could only make out blurry figures, but he recognized the face of a woman.

"Who…?" He murmured.

He didn't know what happened. Suddenly the face moved forward and looked directly in his eyes. The words of the doctors dulled and he only saw lady.

She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Her eyes were lime-green in color; deep and endless they were, beyond anything he had ever seen. Her long, black hair, cascaded onto his face. White caressed her body. While he knew it must have been a dress of some sort, to his delirious mind, it seemed that light took on form and clothed her.

Suddenly she… _breathed_. Air filled him, and revitalized him. His throat, hoarse as it had been, cleared. His nostrils flared but it was a good feeling. His eyesight began to clear and he felt his strength return slowly.

"I'll always watch over you, Aemon al Caar al Thorin. My love defeats time itself… I am yours, my love."

Not knowing what to do, all he did was murmur a single word that came to his mind. "Eldrene…"

With that, the woman was gone.

He sat up. A dull pain throbbed on his face and a smaller, much lighter pain in his leg.

"Where am I?" he demanded angrily. "What is going on?"

The doctors and people surrounding him were doing nothing. They just stood staring at him in shock with their mouths wide.

"Wha…?" He looked around. He heard voices but no one moved. The woman was nowhere to be found.

Ryoga found himself missing her. He didn't even know her name.

"Eldrene…" He murmured.

He had the distinct feeling that he'd see her again someday.

* * *

Miles upon miles away in a small shrine in Japan, Rei Hino awoke with a start. A rather terrifying dream it had been. Ryoga. That was who it was. He had been about to die! 

"Ryoga…" She murmured. Then she giggled. He was a cute guy, now that he was a friend. Who knew? It could happen…

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

**Love you Chels**! Hope you like! 

To all my readers please tell me how you feel about my story here. I'm getting less feedback than I'm used to on my story here so if you are up to it please "**Leave a review!**"

Silence-Darkness: Thanks for the critiques as always! Chapter four is coming along much faster as it's almost all Ranma/Keika related. I was hoping I could pull of the non-filler-maker in this chapter. I think I did quite well. I hope I did. I know the prophecy at the beginning doesn't tie to well into this chapter but I feel that I needed something drastic to re-pull my reader's attention. They seem to feel like they are losing interest as the story doesn't appear to be going anywhere.

Well, now it is! I hope I altered it to your satisfaction. By the way, thanks for all the compliments on the Haruka scene! Heh, believe it or not, that was the one I edited the least. The fight scene I reread several times hoping I'd get it right. Guess I still got work to do on my skill. Eh, I'm getting there though.

Hope everyone enjoyed!


	5. Feeling You Far

_And so shall fire and water collide above the unstained tower.  
The two shall meet and finally be as one.  
Their union, burning bright as fire,  
Dark as the depths of the ocean,  
Shall bind and build, melt and merge,  
Bonding the tower anew._

_The Lord of the Morn,  
Keeper of the Fires of Heaven,_

_The Lady of the Eve,  
Keeper of the Waters of Hell,_

The Angel of White,  
Keeper of the nine who guide the powers of Celestia.

_The Mistress of Time,  
Keeper of the Key to the Wheel._

_The Black Wind,  
Keeper of the Door of the World,_

_The Harbinger of Ruin,  
Keeper of Damnation and the Dark,_

_Above all dances The Lady of the Flames,  
Keeper of Salvation and the Light._

* * *

**Chapter Four: Feeling You Far**

* * *

_The planet stirred. It knew what was coming. It wasn't going to live much longer, that it knew. But it's people would live on. And they would be going home. The wheel had granted her one wish, that her people be safe and protected. Her animals live on and her mountains… rivers and valleys. That they live on after her own death._

_She had foreseen her death as far back as when she was first sealed away from the other worlds… so long ago that had been, when the Gates of Time had been built upon Pluto. She'd known her death was coming even sooner when "Patrail en Meorco se Flam." was made. The connection to the other world. They never knew why they named them as they did. Most just thought it felt right._

_Her people didn't remember that name anymore, though. They were simply "The Ways" now but, once they were called "Patrail en Meorco se Flam." "The Paths of the Lady of the Flames." And the people, both great and small, had forgotten the name alike._

_But the planet remembered. She remembered. And now that the gates had been destroyed, she could feel it. The Lady of the Flames walked here. Her home, the place where she had been born, existed now. With the gates destroyed she could see where she had once rested. The gate had blinded her, and protected her all the same, but now it was gone._

_Now her death was at hand. _

_She had one last thing to do before that though. She would help in any way she could. For the moon. For moon and for the last planet with life… Earth…_

_And always for The Wheel of Time…_

_Serve the Moon. Your power comes from the people and the land…_

_Let my Senshi be born._

* * *

Tamra didn't know it was possible to feint when walking the dream. Perhaps there was a Tel'Aran'Rhiod for Tel'Aran'Rhiod? A "World of Dreams" for the "World of Dreams?" Perhaps. but that was a thought for another time. Right now, the important thing was the barrier shielding her from the One Power and the three women glaring at her.

She chuckled at them. All of them were powerful… by comparison to her when she was alive. As one of the dead heroes bound to the Horn of Valere, and the only member able to channel the One Power, she was a master of the True source. Altogether, if they bonded their connection to the source, they could possibly stand a chance of defeating her. Bonding didn't just add the power of two women together. Individually she could overpower and destroy them with ease.

"Who are you?" asked the young Amyrlin. Her tone was ice, with a hinted threat laced through her calm exterior.

Tamra was not even the slightest bit afraid. She could break the flows of air and destroy the flows of spirit easily. She'd stood against beings of far more power than these three without her current mastery of the source. Beings like Raolin Darksbane. Artur Hawkwing. Setsuna Meioh.

If only she'd had the power then that she did now…

The thought of the woman who killed her sent a shiver down her spine. Nothing showed in her exterior, though. Outwardly she displayed no emotion whatsoever.

"I am Tamra. Tamra Ospenya." Tamra replied tartly. "And I would appreciate it if you'd let me stand."

Tamra was held on the floor, arms at her sides and legs held together, wrapped in flows of airs so tightly that only her head could move. Even in such an unusual position, she was more than calm, Aes Sedai serenity. She personified calm.

The Egwene's eyes widened but only for a moment. Tamra almost didn't catch the look for surprise. The sun-haired woman's eyes rose as well in surprise. They knew the name at least.

"Tamra Ospenya was the Amyrlin Seat thirty years or so ago. She would not be wandering the dream. Who are you? Why were you watching us?" Her eyes were narrow slits as she spoke.

Tamra's clothing changed in an instant. She suddenly wore the same seven colored stole as Egwene. She had been Amyrlin once before. It was fitting in a way, though it no doubt angered the Amyrlin before her, whether this little girl was actually an Amyrlin or not.

Tamra sighed when she felt the flows of air binding her arms and legs to the ground loosen. She stretched towards the source, even as she stood. A weave of spirit lay pressed between her and the source. A flimsy, weak barrier. With a grin Tamra plunged forward into the barrier stretching it to near bursting. And then, she retracted, not wanting to let the weak shield break. Dangerous to make enemies so quickly. She had frightened them enough with that small stretch.

She stood slowly. Sudden moves could cause recklessness. She doubted, though, that the Amyrlin could be startled; the woman seemed every bit as hard as she herself. While the other two women had been startled by how close she came to breaking their hold on her shield, Egwene stood without a care. If she truly was the Amyrlin Seat then she fit the position well.

"Thank you." Tamra said, conveying no thanks whatsoever.

"Pleasure." Egwene replied, eyes narrowed.

Tamra sighed and decided she would have to be the one to begin the conversation. The three women were glaring daggers into her skull. Touchy women… "As I said before, I am Tamra Ospenya, Watcher of the Seals, Flame of Tar Valon. May I ask who you are?"

"Egwene Al'vere. Watcher of the Seals. Flame of Tar Valon. So. A third Amyrlin? What army do you hold?" The raven haired woman asked in tightly sealed anger.

"None. I am the Amyrlin Seat no longer, really. I died years ago, and lived and died again. I am tied to the Horn of Valere, child. And I must go. I violate the Precepts by staying here. I cannot speak with you.

She was the only person able to touch the true source and bonded to the Horn at the same time. Artur Hawking, the _"hero most remembered"_ in the history of the world, constantly gave her grief about that. When he was dead, though, he wasn't nearly so touchy with Aes Sedai. Every time he was spun out into the pattern he somehow grew a terrible hatred for them. It was curious, Tamra thought, but again, unimportant.

Egwene's face grew into a grin of genuine happiness. She'd wanted to meet another of these hero's tied to the wheel. "Is that so? Tell me… do you know a woman named Birgitte?"

Tamra's eyes lit up in both worry and excitement. "She is here? You have _seen_ her?"

Tamra barely noticed it but suddenly the blonde woman was glaring daggers at Egwene. Egwene ignored the glare with casual grace.

Birgitte! Gaidal Cain and Birgitte always were together when they were spun out into the world of the living. It was interesting to hear of her best friend. A moment or so too late Tamra realized that she had already given the woman a full answer to her question.

'Damn' Tamra thought, annoyed. 'It's been too long since I've held the stole. And this child is sharp for one so young.'

Tamra did not hold the body that Tamra herself had once worn. Looking at herself she recognized quite fondly the blue-black locks of hair hanging down in front of her eyes. She wasn't so different from Tamra but then Akane Tendo had been much younger than Tamra Ospenya when she died.

"I suppose, I've answered enough…" Tamra sighed. "It's been long since I've dealt in Aes Sedai circles. _Daes'dae Mar_ doesn't come so easily as it used to. My tongue needs time to regain its silk."

In her last life she never spoke like this. In her last life, her words were so clouded with anger that she never could speak like this… also, thousands of years of memory gave her quite a different outlook on life. Truly, she only seemed to gain knowledge in the World of Dreams; any life she lived she always fell in love with some damned man and found herself shouting at the top of her lungs. She hadn't done this when she had lived as Tamra, though.

"More than enough," Egwene replied. "I've a question, _Tamra_. How is it that you managed to faint in the World of Dreams? Better… why did you faint?"

Tamra was at a loss. "I don't know. I haven't ever before."

"Why did you now?" The dark-skinned woman interjected suddenly.

Realizing that, while she was stronger in the power than all of them combined, her dislike of making enemies was allowing them to milk her for every bit of information she was worth.

"I must go." Tamra said, cracking her voice. "I am sorry but this is violating the precepts. I am not to be seen here."

She turned to go but Egwene stopped her with swift words. "Birgitte has interacted. You were there for Guitara's foretelling of the coming of the Dragon Reborn. If you are truly who you say you are then you will tell us what it was."

Tamra's eyes widened, then narrowed. "How do you know about that?" Her tone was mild before compared to now. That was a touchy ground. Very touchy indeed. Guitar had died in that foretelling.

There was only one way this girl _could_ know about that. Two ways. 'Siuan… Moiraine… I'll strangle you both when I get my hands on you.' She thought ruefully.

It was then Tamra realized her tongue had slipped once more by simply asking how the girl knew about it.

'Damn this woman!' Tamra thought. She sighed once more and began to quote.

"_He is born again. I feel him. The Dragon takes his first breath on the slope of Dragonmount. He is coming. He is coming. Light help us. Light help the world. He lies in the snow and cries like the thunder. He burns like the sun."_

A silent note passed over the group; none wished to say anything.

"That should not be common knowledge. If it is I suppose there is no point in killing you, but if not perhaps I could still keep the world safe. I don't suppose the Dragon has risen yet." Tamra said, her words still laced with ice.

"Yes." Was Egwene's reply. The threat had rubbed like a feather against a stone. None were even the least startled at that. "The Dragon is Reborn. The prophecy no longer matters now that the Dragon is taking over the world."

Tamra's eyes widened. "What? What do you mean? Surely he is not so strong as yet. And guided by the tower of course. I presume he was found. Siuan and Moiraine devoted their _lives_ to finding him."

Egwene cracked a grin that was almost malicious and began. "He leads the Aiel, Tariens, Illianers, Andormen, Cairhienen, and he has made his mark on the borderlands. The Green Man is dead, the Forsaken walk the world once more, and at least four of the seals we watch have been broken…"

Tamra stared for a moment. And then, burst out laughing.

"You! Hah hah! To think of one man leading even half those nations! It is ludicrous! You surely do not believe I am a fool! The prophecy's say he must be there for Tarmon Gai'don! Not that he is to be another Artur Hawking! I've met Artur!"

Their expressions did not alter a by a hair.

"He is King of Illian. Though he has left the throne of Caemlyn and Cairhien to Elayne Trakand." She said with a gesture to the light haired woman. "Though what he plans to do with Tear I still don't know. Last I spoke with him, the Seanchan were his highest priority."

Fear crept through Tamra's spine once more. It was rare that she could be brought to fear. Few could do it. Setsuna Meioh being one… Another had been Lews Therin…

Even as one tied to the Horn of Valere she had not lived during the time of the Breaking, nor had she ever met Lews Therin… instead she had watched the land reshape itself like a massive tsunami of earth during the breaking three thousand years ago in Tel'Aran'Rhiod. It was the only time she could remember feeling true terror.

Now such a man was reborn again. Such a man to break the world. And he was doing it… again. There was nothing she could do to stop it.

"You are… serious? He is... truly taken over all those…? Is… he… I…" Tamra didn't know what to ask. "You've… met him? Yes of course you have. You've guided him to this, of course."

Egwene smiled. Anyone who had been away from the world for thirty years would have given the same such reaction. And the quote was the exact wording. Her trust was growing with this woman.

"The Tower has been broken since Siuan Sanche was Stilled and Disposed as Amyrlin by Elaida do'Avriny a'Roihan. I am the leader of the rebelling Aes Sedai, and the new chosen Amyrlin. I seek to bring Elaida down from the tower. She was never fit for Amyrlin. Especially not after Siuan… The only tower that has ever touched the Dragon was Elaida and her cage. He means to see her dead, I think."

"What!? What do you mean the tower is broken!? Rebels!? You are rebels!? No one rebels against the tower! It is pure foolishness!"

"I was not Amyrlin till long after this had happened. They summoned me and I took their lead. I hold an army and I intend to retake the city of Tar Valon. Elaida wrongfully usurped Siuan Sanche from the seat and I will see her wrongs repaid." Egwene replied calmly.

"The tower chose her as fit for Amyrlin. If it did so then it had full right to do so! No matter who it was!" Tamra exclaimed.

In the back of her mind Tamra realized how foolish Elaida as Amyrlin truly was. She would bring the tower to death and ruin within a year. She would be usurped in the same way Siuan had been. But still it was the Hall of the Tower's right to choose! It's right!

The two women squared off both glaring daggers one at another. After a time Tamra relented.

"So the world has fallen to ruin and Aes Sedai face Aes Sedai…" She sighed. "And again I wasn't there to see a bit… damn the wheel. I could have helped… or something. Elaida would make a terrible Amyrlin but it is the Hall's right to choose who takes that seat."

Dropping her eyes Tamra decided that it was time to ask the only true thing that she really cared about. All of that didn't matter. She wasn't an Aes Sedai now. Wasn't even _alive_ now. She could do nothing with the affairs of the world. But there was one thing she cared about more than anything. More than the rest of the world. In all her lives as far back as time could recall, she had never had a child. Never. But now… she knew she had heard that name correctly.

"I heard you mention… the name Keika Saotome. Did you say that?" Tamra asked.

Egwene nodded, not in the least surprised that Tamra would want to change the subject. "That's why you feinted." It was not a question. "The name. Who is it?"

Akane didn't know what to say… the only way to tell it was to say the truth. "Keika Saotome is my daughter."

* * *

"I don't feel safe around them! I'm… worried…" Machin was saying. Repeating was more like it. 

They were getting closer and closer to the feelings of life by the day. People were near and naturally, Machin was terrified.

So was she. Even if eighteen or so years with her daughter was not long enough to make her mad, she was still a little bit worried. She well remembered snapping Aron's neck in Fal Dara.

She felt jittery. She was a father! She shouldn't feel this nervous! She'd seen things these people had only dreamed about and lived thousands of times their age…

"I'm worried too, Machin…" She murmured.

She was just as, if not more worried about hurting people than he was. After all… she'd killed a man on accident once… Granted Machin had done it more… much more… but… well… yes he probably was more worried than her.

They were walking, not flying, through a heavily wooded forest.

"Let's stop Machin." She said. "I need to dance, and I have to show you…"

She trailed off at her last words. The reason she needed to dance was the draining. The previous day he had asked to drain her of her energy. Just in case… someone came across him and he… couldn't hold it back.

She had complied of course. She wished she knew where the walking staff was. The draining made her so tired. She'd thought she was alright yesterday and decided not to dance, but now today she was feeling the effects.

She just felt weary now, though that also might be due to sleeping on snow and grass instead of stone. The stuff was just too _soft_! She could always keep herself warm of course, as could Machin, so the cold snow melted when they laid down, leaving them in still-living green grass beneath. The snow was sparse anyways, decorating the ground in splotches.

He nodded and they continued walking through the lightly snow-covered terrain.

They had found a river and had been following it from a ways away. Water, Machin said, tasted so good it could have taken place of his drain.

She had not yet shown him her curse. She wanted too, and knew how to. She also knew that it would be so easy now, for hot water to hit her, but every time she began to heat the water she saw him, his eyes dwelling into her heart. It was as if he were a painter and she a canvas he never wanted changed at all.

She simply… hadn't been able to break his dreams. He'd wanted her so much… but…

Whether she wanted him was another matter entirely. If something like that happened the situation would be awkward at best.

They stopped in a small clearing a few minutes later and Ranma lay down one of the embers and instantly willed the flames to alight as she had done so often in the past.

Ranma stepped a few feet back and stripped without pause. Machin only watched in both a mixture of awe at her beauty and contentment of finally being free to be with her once more.

She surrounded herself with her ki. Light erupted around her, engulfing her in the image of her aura. The aura itself first began the dance. With that the flames rose from the ember and enshrouded her in an instant, circling her in a blaze of fiery clothing. She seemed once more an angel among the flames.

Her dance began as it always did, twisting and flowing as if she were just another of the multitude of flames rising and burning. The fire burned into the sky, rising far beyond the reach of any fire not assisted by the lady of the flames. She was not simply dancing now. Now she was using her dance as a beacon. Stretching as far and high as she could, with all the power she could muster, hoping against hope that she would feel Keika within her grasp.

Machin stood by watching in awe as he always did. He leaned heavily against a tree, after flinching for a moment at the bark snapping, simply watching his angel.

Ranma felt another beacon of power far to the west and north. Its power radiated with as much if not more power than her pillar of flames, though it was a different type. Bathed in her ki she felt the beacon even more strongly. She didn't feel her daughter though. As she hadn't felt the girl in the ways, Keika did not react to her dance. She was either too far away or… or…

'I won't think like that…' Ranma thought. 'Keika is _alive._' Her face was a determined shell and the hues in the fires darkened.

Bathed in her ki she felt her far surroundings as well as near. A deer pranced to the south moving into a small den where two smaller deer resided sleeping. A hawk flew above, riding the heat of her flames to the top of the funnel it created and launched itself to the north.

Forest rested for hundreds of miles around. Insects, birds, and still other animals the likes of which she had never seen felt her as she felt them. And there were others too.

Men. Not a hundred paces from where she danced there were men moving straight towards her. She was almost worried but she did not stop the dance. She _would_ find Keika. She would.

The thought was like a summons to the girl. An instant. Yet there it was! A small, spark, but it was there. A very small ripple, echoing off the power of her flames. Her daughter's ki emblazoned in it's strongest glory, yet so small and far away.

'North and East! Keika! I knew you were alive! I _knew _it!' Ranma exclaimed internally. Joy erupted throughout the flames as their somber, searching dance lightened. They almost appeared to be laughing with glee as they swayed across the small clearing.

The spark only lasted for a fleeting moment. Ranma knew how strong her daughter was. She was far away… far… oh ever so far! But she was alive! And Ranma would find her if it was the last thing she ever did!

"L … Light! I-its ah a… !" Came the sudden terrified voice of one of the men Ranma had felt approaching.

"Light protect us! She's a… I never seen no Aes Sedai do somat lie tha!" One of the men slurred in an unusual tone.

She continued her dance effortlessly, ignoring the terrified men. Several others appeared and gasped in awe at the sight before them.

Machin had hidden himself away in an instant behind a tree, guarding his view from the men, but none of it mattered. Her daughter was alive!

"Girl…" Ranma whispered… "You… stupid little girl…" No one could see the tears leaking from fire angel's eyes as they evaporated in an instant…

In her rapture Ranma forgot her plans to heat the water and become a man once more. Her daughter was _alive!_

Ranma allowed the flames to begin to die. The men watching, there were about seven of them, had been frozen in awe, much like Machin had been the first time he had seen her dance.

The flames died further as her dance began to draw to a close. Those flames that were still alive, still burned with her joy.

Slowly, slowly, they faded in heat and power until the naked girl stood in the middle of the clearing, tears trailing down her eyes.

For a long moment that seemed an eternity, she stood, hands to her heart, eyes closed in unparalleled joy.

"She's alive, Machin!" Ranma exclaimed. "Machin!"

Ranma bounded to the place where Machin was hiding, still ignoring the shocked men.

She tackled him in a bounding leap, swinging herself around in his surprised arms as he was pushed out from behind the tree.

"Really!?" He cried, while nervously eyeing the men staring at them, mouths gaping. "Thank the light… Ranma I… I'm… light… I'm so sorry for all this… I… "

She disengaged from him and looked up into his eyes, her hands still resting on his arms. A bubbly, angelic child of simple elation… no matter that a flame or two still danced across her naked body. "Nothing to be sorry for, Machin! She's alive and she's free."

The thought struck her like a barrel of bricks.

'She's free? Oh my… god! She'll be terrified!' Ranma thought. Her mood instantly became absolutely frantic as she stared to the far north, north east. 'So many people around her! Or maybe none at all! _Light! _I don't know which would be worse!'

"Who under the light do you be? Are you, uh… Aes Sedai?" Came a sudden question.

Ranma turned to glance at the men. Machin had already been watching them.

"Machin… we have to go that way," She said while pointing northeast over the man's shoulder, "as fast as we possibly can. My daughter has never even seen sunlight without the book before! She'll be—"

"I asked who ya do be, I did!" interrupted the same harsh masculine voice.

The man who spoke strode forth, warily. He'd seen her fires and didn't think for a moment that she could not summon them again, but he would not be ignored by a girl who could have been his daughter thrice over!

The man towered over Ranma and Machin alike, wearing a loose jerkin along with some ragged and worn pants. A small pack hung about his back beneath the cloak and a sword hung at his side. His hair was black, though he appeared to be balding, and he held a great beard as black as his hair.

The other men all wore various clothing but most of it was a simple variation of the large man's. He towered over all of them as well. All of them looked to be well traveled.

Ranma eyed the men as a rabid dog eyed a cat. In truth she was just curious about them. Fear made her seem more than a simple flame headed girl. They paid little or no mind at all to the man holding the naked woman.

Ranma, after having given all of them a fair glance, left Machin's embrace. It had taken her a moment to piece together the strange accent coming from the man.

"Ranma." She said plainly. "I'm Ranma. This is Machin. Who are you?" She asked, hoping the man would understand. She'd never heard someone speak like that before.

"I am Lyial. And uh… if it pleases the light, uh… do be about getting clothed. Not that ye don't be the most beautiful lass me eyes ever seen. Though… tis' not decent." The man stuttered. Clearly he wasn't sure how to react. In spite of the man's fear, though, he would not be cowed by a mere girl, much less a naked one. Still, his hand was never more than a second from the hilt of his blade.

"Uh… okay." Ranma replied.

Ranma turned to find her clothes and began to dress, not caring in the slightest for the strange looks the men were giving her. Why were they looking at her like that anyways? She couldn't tell.

"So, again, sir. Machin… was it?" Lyial asked.

Machin glanced warily over his shoulder to Ranma, who was paying him absolutely no mind. He did get an incredible view of her posterior though.

He sighed. "I'm.. uh… yes. M-Machin. Machin-Shin. P-pleased to meet you." He stuttered nervously as he held out a hand.

Lyial raised an eyebrow in wariness, never moving to accept the hand. 'A shameless girl and a shy man?' He thought, contemplating. 'Odd…'

"Well. I do be Lyial, as I say. Captain of this here band. Where from do you hail? Yer' and the lass's accents place ya as borderlanders, but I don't be up that-a-way much meself." Lyial replied, his eye never leaving Ranma or Machin for long. "Perilous times to be travelin' by ya selves. What with the wretched Seanchan about! We driven most them off by now but… Ya do be goin' somewhere? Illian I suppose? Or… Tear.." He sneered indignantly as he snarled the final word.

Ranma returned in an instant and interrupted. "We are going that, way." She stated. "North."

"There be nothing that way till Caemlyn! Sure the River Cary'll tak—"

"Caemlyn?!" Ranma interjected, jumping up giddily. "Did you say Caemlyn! I've heard of Caemlyn!"

A long, long time ago, in Fal Dara she had heard of Caemlyn.. Something about a "Daughter-Heir" mentioned by a few people in passing. She was apparently a woman that Al'Thor boy had met. One of the ones that had saved her from the ways, and Machin the first time.

Lyial was nonplussed. "Ah… never been there before lass? Well, if that's where ya be off too then I bid ya luck." His attention abruptly turned to Machin, continuing without pause. "But the sun do be set at a while past midday, and if ye'd like you should probably be on your way if you want to reach a village by dusk."

"Yes." Ranma replied. "We're going now. Come on, Machin."

Machin, still looking in a somewhat strange sort of awe at the person before him because he simply _was, _nodded his head towards the redhead without ever letting his eyes fall from the men.

Ranma turned in the direction her finger had pointed moments before and began to walk. Machin followed her, but his eyes still didn't leave the men.

"Eh… well… good luck to you…" He said, not wishing half so much luck as he sounded.

Ranma continued, ignoring the man completely. Her eyes were set forward. None of this was important. These men. This place. Meeting people. None of it. She _had_ to get her daughter.

"Keika…" She murmured aloud. "I'm coming for you."

With those words she suddenly turned to Machin. "Machin! Come on! Lets go! She's so far… we have to get there _now_!"

And with that… she flew. Blasting up into the sky and exploding in an array of fire, she left the men standing there in utter fear and shock as she disappeared from view.

Machin, who had finally turned away to Ranma, turned back to the men. "It was n-nice to mm-meet you sir!"

He turned and sighed, glancing at Ranma's forgotten pack and sword on the ground. He hefted them and then turned back the men.

He gave a shaky bow, crouched, and exploded into the air, as Ranma had taught him, following after her like a bolt of black lighting, trailing a flaming tail of red.

Ranma never noticed that she had created the fire on her own. Never even noticed that she had left the ember in the clearing…

* * *

Keika looked around. She awoke, dreary but terrified, once more to find herself lying on a bed. This time, while fear gripped every fiber of her being, she held brave.

'What would mom think!? Cowering at… well… things! She's told stories about them all your life! Suck it up, Keika! You're made of stronger stuff than this!' She thought to herself furiously.

Slowly she threw her legs over the side of the bed, feeling the wave of glorious comfort that was the mattress. The soft cushion clung to her leg like an addictive vice, not wanting her to go. Not wanting her to _want_ to leave the comfort.

She looked down and saw that, upon her, was a white gown. The cloth felt unusual on her skin, they itched and rubbed, _everywhere!_ She'd tried on her mother's clothes once or twice before so they weren't much of a hindrance though. She could deal with it. She knew that people who lived out here always wore clothes.

"What a pain in the ass…" She murmured.

"Child… you are finally awake." Came a smooth, sultry voice from a chair placed beside the bed.

Keika's eye darted around. In an instant they locked with a woman. "You…" Keika said darkly. "Who are you!? Why did you bring me here?"

Magina was a bit irritated. She'd rarely heard other languages spoken before. The land beyond the Aiel waste had one or two. She had only understood a few of the words the girl said. "I'm… sorry child. I didn't quite understand you… I'm afraid I don't know the language you are speaking in…"

Keika growled, frustrated. '_…can't use any of the words from the book. It's a different language there.'_ Ranma's voice echoed back into her mind of one of the things she was taught long ago.

She strained and remembered. Ranma spoke both languages so much that they blended, as did Keika. But she could split them if she tried. Finding the words she repeated, "Who are you?"

"I'm called Magina, young one." Mesaana said with an aged voice. "I brought you out from that wretched place."

The woman was fair skinned, in her middle years. No wrinkles had reached her face and she had no gray hairs but she looked old enough to begin getting them soon. She had short black hair and her voice rung like the sound of silver chimes. Her wide eyes blue eyes fixed on Keika with fury.

"Where is my mom!?" Keika screamed. Speaking was like throwing a kick and stopping half way through. Like using only three fingers instead of her hand. Why did this place only know half the language!?

And suddenly she remembered. It hit her with the collective force of a boulder. "Oh god, no…" She whispered as her eyes glazed over.

_"Keika... Please run…"_

Memories of Ranma, holding off blackness beyond even the darkness of her home, her aura dimming came back to her in a rush. Her mother holding the darkness… failing… engulfed within.

"My mom… she's…" Keika stuttered, not quite sure how to take her mother's death.

Her eyes began to well with tears as grief and mourning began to spread throughout her body, along with a dull numbness of shock.

Suddenly, warm arms encircled her, holding her close and keeping warding off the feeling of needle pricks and numbness making her shiver.

"Child… no one knows that your mother is dead. You may see her again someday. Who can say with The Ways?" The soothing voice saturated into her.

But she felt no comfort.

Abruptly, something… happened. It wasn't that it happened just then, but only that she had just now become _aware_ of the occurrence. Again she didn't know how to describe it but there were few things that she did understand enough to describe. Things like that… cold sensation in the Ways… was it… wind? Moving air? Whatever it was, it made her shiver.

If the wind made her shiver, this new sensation made her head spin worse than the time she had raced her mother in twenty laps around the world. It was a strange sort of… bursting. A feeling of a gigantic explosion, a power that somehow coerced with her own. But that was infinitely stronger. Like… like her mother compared to her…

"Damnit, what is happening to me?" She thought, angrily. "What is this feeling?"

Wind was rustling about inside the doors even now. She'd felt something like wind before… the rush from a swift punch just barely avoided… but never had she felt like something was grazing her all over like this.

The air was… clear. She could not describe the clarity. It did not make sense… she had never felt that the air was wrong before, in her stone walled darkness of home. But this air made the "rightness" of home feel like a dank prison. It was just… clear.

The beacon of light… some great explosion of a power that she was connected to pulsated and reacted to her innards. Her mother never knew about this power. This… drawing… that she could perform. She didn't know what it was, but the beacon coming from… somewhere… felt like her mother's Death Blast in comparison to the magic embers back home, when she compared it to her own power.

Keika stood uncomfortably. "Miss, Magina, where am I? I've… I've never really been out of my home before. We escaped into the Ways and then right after that the Wind… and… I…"

The girl broke down into tears again, burying her face in her hands.

Mesaana was looking at the girl with a confused expression on her face. 'Escaped into the Ways? What sane human would possibly want to _escape into_ the _Ways_?.

"Go on…" Mesaana urged after a moment of contemplative thought, and holding the distraught girl.

"And… well, the book showed me a life through the eyes of a person on another world… not this one… I don't think… your clothes are too different for that world and this one to be the same one… I only know about this world from my… mom's stories… So I don't know, where I am or... Um… thank you for helping me… Magina."

Magina put on a motherly smile. Another world… interesting. Philosophers had always believed that there were others… Ishamael… now Morridin, had. And what of this book? Very interesting. "You are quite welcome child. As to where you are, this is the great city of Tar Valon. The White Tower!"

Even as Mesaana put the majestic lilt in her voice, she felt the urge to roll her eyes. These pathetic weaklings who called themselves Aes Sedai. Bah! They were children. All their vaunted power and pompous ceremony but they were no more powerful than children by comparison to the Aes Sedai of her age. The age they now called The Age of Legends! Hah! But still, she had a child to impress. A child who wielded more power than Lanfear, Semirhage, and herself combine…

A child that… didn't seem impressed. Almost seemed… confused?

"I… Oh… ok… What's tha—!"

Keika whipped her head to around to stare directly at a stone wall without warning. Another beacon! But she knew this one. She knew this one well!

"Momma! Mom! I knew you were alive!" The girl exclaimed in a feeling of utter surprise and elated joy.

Magina couldn't describe what happened next. It was like Saidar but… not… the girl in front of her burst into light. Though this light was strange. Blue in color, it was an aura; holding a glow brighter than any Saidar had ever shown her, it blazed and pulsed, radiating with power.

With each pulse the girl called, frantically. Terrified. "Mom! I feel you ! I feel the flames! Please… I'm here! I'm here!"

The pulses visibly pushed Magina each time. Lights swirled around the devilishly red-haired girl.

"Feel me! Find me!" The girl screamed. "Oh god you're so weak… Mama! I'll find you if I have too!"

"K-Keika! Foolish girl! Stop!" Mesaana cried as the power radiating from the girl pushed her back into the wall. Unable to do anything to stop the relentless pulses, Magina embraced the source. She weaved and a wall of solidified air sprung up around her, shielding her from the pulses of wind-like light that now ran off her invisible shield, swirling around her as much as they did around Keika.

She lashed out with the source, Saidar as her weapon, and blanketed the blazing girl in a full body binding of air. The air forced itself against Keika even as the pulses banged against it encasing the girl in a much smaller swirl of light.

"Let me go! Mom! Why won't you come!? Why are you so weak!? Feel me!" The red-head screamed. Her mother felt even weaker then ever! Just on the brink of death… so small! She had to reach out and _find _her! _Now!_

The pulses pounded relentlessly against Magina's wall of air but she held strong. 'This girl is incredible! She isn't… argh… even using the source!' Mesaana struggled desperately. The source was her plaything. She surrendered to it and thus was its master. Guiding it with eternities of practice.

Still sweat began to moisten her brow as she found holding the small light entrenched girl more and more difficult by the minute. More source. She had to draw more. More every minute!

"_Pluto…" _The girl murmured.

Mesaana was truly sweating now. She couldn't be doing this! The _Aes Sedai_, weak as they were, would feel it! But… what could she do to stop it!?

"_Planet Power…" _

Only then did Mesaana hear the words coming from her captive. 'What is she—!"

"_Make up!"  
_

The wall of air exploded. Magina blasted back, slamming her head into the stone wall. The last thing she saw before unconsciousness took her was a dazzling dance of lights manipulating their way across her new charge's body.

Keika's power blasted ever stronger. Free from whatever the bonds holding it in were, she let her power rage and burn. Trying to reach her. There was no reaction. Her mother should have seen her and come blazing! Damn! Why was her mother's dance so weak… so dim…? She didn't understand… Was she dying?

She couldn't understand. Never had she felt the effects of distance before…

But it was there. That was all she knew. Ranma was there! She was calling. Her mother would protect her! Make her safe! Why… why couldn't she feel her!?

Her power began to slip and fade. She couldn't keep up such a beacon of ki and planetary magic for long. Her mother was not coming. She was still dancing but… there was no reaction at all. Like there had been when she was at home. Ranma… couldn't feel her.

Her power dimmed and the lights swirled to a halt… fading… fading… Her eyes were beginning to close.

"Why momma? Are you hurt? Why do you feel so weak? Why… didn't you react to me like you always do? Why…?"

Her eyes slipped closed and again she was rendered unconscious.

Moments later, a group of women entered the room, to find the novice and the new maid woman unconscious.

A wilder. This novice was even stronger than Nynaeve… and she had been the strongest in centuries.

None of them suspected that it was the maid who had embraced the source. Not one. Mesaana was a Chosen. Even in unconsciousness, she disguised herself like a shadow among darkness…

* * *

She was tiring. For hours she had flown, flames long since burned off her clothing. Fear had clutched her at that. Had dancing the flames so often caused her to simply… burst into flames? She found that she could still manipulate them as always but still. She was afraid of the flames being enough to consume her some day. Burn her just as they burned the ground. She had snuffed the flames surrounding her quickly when she realized that they again had taken the place of her clothing.

They had been doing nothing but flying for over seven hours straight now, and Ranma knew that she wouldn't be able to go much further without rest.

Especially carrying Machin. He'd fallen almost two hours previous trying desperately to keep up with the mad pace she had set. She'd caught him and flown to the ground. He'd thanked her and then fallen asleep. Ever since she'd crumpled the man into every position imaginable to try to find a way to fly faster, and more comfortably.

Even her immense chi was fading, though and she knew if she did not stop soon she would fall unconscious in mid-flight.

She saw yet another of hundreds of small villages she had passed on her flight; lamp-lights were just beginning to sparkle giving the small town a beautiful glow in the evening sunset. It illuminated the snow surrounding the village, and Ranma decided that it would be a perfect place to stay…

"I wonder what a bed feels like…" She thought in awe as she steadily began her descent.

* * *

The woman stood in the doorway to the inn, looking out into the sky almost angrily. Why did Keika have to do this to her!? She'd had enough of adventure in her life and she was damn well and ready to stop… But no! The Mistress of Time would have none of it!

Grumbling in her mind, she put those thoughts aside. They were no help, despite how comforting they might feel.

Her face displayed none of the turmoil within her, of course. She was Aes Sedai, or had been anyway... Her eyes scanned the sky, vigilant as a hawk, searching desperately for the flyspeck of red she knew would be coming.

The innkeeper laid a hand on her shoulder suddenly, surprising her a bit. Her gaze did not leave the sky though.

"Come, M'lady… perhaps tomorrow night she will arrive?" The old and bearded man said. "This person you wait for. It is getting rather chilly and I do believe you will catch a cold if you remain here much longer…"

Three days she had been waiting. Pluto said to just keep waiting and Ranma would arrive. Just keep waiting!

Inside she bristled. She was not used to playing a serving girl for anyone… even if she was the lady of time.

But the man did have a point… it was getting a little chilly, even though by looking at her, one could never tell she was cold. One might think she was a stone the way the only part of her moving was her eyes.

"Yes…" She drawled. "You're right… I'm sorry I've been crowding your doorway, good sir but I—!" She started. A small speck. Little more. But there she was!

"Finally!" She suddenly burst of the building and then turned back to walk towards the horizon. The descending speck was forming and becoming a body now. A girl, with crimson hair, red as the sun now setting in the west.

The girl held a man in her arms. Machin Shin. Truly the Black Wind of the Ways in the flesh. That man had tried to kill her once, but all had been forgiven now. She now knew how the Black Wind had come to be. And also knew that nothing could have been done to stop it.

The woman readied herself for her first confrontation with "The Lady who Dances the Flames." Actually it was her second confrontation. The first had been an order some fifteen years gone… to her mind at least.

Here… that meeting was still yet to come.

"And so it begins…" she murmured ruefully. A wide grin crept across her face.

* * *

Ranma landed with a soft crunch on the fluffy snow. The sun was just falling in the west, now just below the horizon. The snow sparkled from the small lamps lit in the village ahead, illuminating it even more than the lamps already had. 

It was a clear night and a cloudless sky hung above with stars just beginning to twinkle at the dawn of twilight.

She walked forward towards the town which still lay a good hundred meters away. She had little fear of being seen from this distance. From that far, most people would simply think her a strange bird, but she did not want to frighten people.

Trudging along, carrying Machin the whole way, Ranma entered the small village shortly, stumbling past the first buildings.

An inn. She needed an inn.

It was at that moment that it hit her that she would have to have money to pay for the night. Cursing angrily, the girl almost threw the man she carried when she was suddenly stopped.

"Ranma!" came the enthused voice of an older lady. She wore a blue outfit and a blue fringed shawl on her shoulders as well.

Ranma was shocked. Someone _knew_ her?

The woman waved, motioning further into the village.

Light spilled out from the small houses and shops dotting the dirt path that was obviously the main road. Loud 'pangs' signifying metal on metal echoed from a blacksmith's forge in the distance at the far side of the village. Here and there a small donkey made a slight whine. A few children even played in the snow, throwing snowballs back and forth amongst themselves, laughing merrily.

"Ranma Saotome!" The voice called over the sounds emanating throughout the village. She strode towards the woman, and was gifted with a small sense of familiarity.

She was a very short woman, with hard eyes to say the least. Fair skinned and beautiful for a woman who looked three times her age, she seemed so out of place in her blue dress that Ranma almost thought she was some sort of mirage.

"Who are you?" She asked warily, once she was within a few paces.

Again familiarity struck Ranma. Who _was_ this woman?

"Please, do as I ask. I've been sent to guide you. Ranma. As I guided the Dragon, so shall I guide you. At least here." The woman said, her tone never changing a bit.

"G-guide me? To what? Who are you!?" Ranma asked. What was going on here?

The woman only smiled. "Take this, and spend the night at that inn. And get dressed, fool girl! On the morrow, make way for Caemlyn. You must go there. There you will find the help you need to rescue your daughter. You cannot find her alone."

She held out a sack which jingled loudly and tossed it.

Ranma caught the sack and was dimly aware of the jingle mixed with the sound of rustling cloth within.

While she fought not to show surprise she assumed she had failed miserably. Her daughter was in danger? Where? Anger blazed through her like a firestorm in an instant.

"Where is my daughter?! How do you know so much about me? How did you know where to find me? I'm… I don't understand!" Ranma exclaimed.

The woman only smiled. "I'm simply here as a guide to make sure things happen the right way… As they are meant to…"

"Guide me to what!?" Ranma screamed angrily. Fortunately they were still close enough to the edge of the village that no one had noticed the shout or Ranma's nakedness. Not that she cared.

Again a self-knowing smile… and then she spoke. "Tarmon Gai'don. The Last Battle."

In an instant, the woman vanished.

Five to ten minutes passed as Ranma tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened. She stared blankly at the village before her. Little had changed since the woman had come and gone. Children were still playing and shops were still open.

But what in the world had she gotten herself into?

Surprise and anger were the emotions that fought for dominance in her mind. She was angry because she knew her daughter was in danger. She was surprised that anyone knew her! Her only time spent in this world was so far to the north that there was no way _anyone_ should know her by name.

Anger took dominance as she opened the sack and dressed herself. A red silk shirt with yellow buttons and blue, stretchy sweat pants. A pair of hard slippers as well. A very comfortable outfit she thought, which only fueled her anger. Oddly the clothes were quite worn and rugged. They had been used before extensively and repaired as often as used.

She strode through town to the door of the inn, surreptitiously named "The Hidden Paradise." Striding into the common room, Machin still hanging off her shoulder, she gasped, and her anger was swallowed instantly in a sea of fear, anxiety, and apprehension.

Men sat in tables, most looking no where but into their half empty mugs of ale. A few turned their attention to a fellow who stood atop a table, juggling three small balls with both hands. He looked to be having some trouble but he was more than determined.

Another group of men hung in the back area of the common room around a circular wooden table, playing a game of cards. Ranma, though, had never heard of a card game in which every player held their hand so that they were the only ones who _could not_ see them.

Beautiful serving woman moved about the room, bringing more ale or a bowl of soup, or bread, or cheese out to the various patrons. They were dressed more than modestly and the men barely paid them enough attention to actually remember to pay them.

The last of the men, those not gambling or staring into their mugs, were now all eyes set for her. Their eyes were wide as well. She blushed, not quite certain why she seemed to attract so much attention. Perhaps they were staring at the man slung over her shoulder?

"Um… may I… Um…" Ranma tried to speak. Nervousness overshadowed her will and she wilted, waiting for them to respond.

"By the light, are you alright, M'lady?" Came a gruff, elderly voice.

"Yes!" Ranma replied quickly turning towards the voice. She did not want to look strange, but she somehow thought that she was failing miserably.

"Lanya! Lanya, prepare a room for the miss immediately!" He breathed. Suddenly he scrunched his nose and added "and a bath!"

Immediately following this, a woman emerged from the kitchen rapidly removing her apron. "Yes, Gram. She… she has coin right? I don't want another freeloader for a night!"

The man, Gram, waved her away. "Don't matter for the moment. Just get it ready!" Instantly his attention returned to her. "Is he alright, my dear?" The elderly man asked gingerly. "Here… let me take 'im. Are you alright?"

The clothes she now wore were a bit dirty as if used recently and her face was covered in dirt from flying so far. Perhaps she didn't look quite so good as she felt.

'Maybe that's why they are all looking at me…' Ranma thought, looking around at the wolfish grins on the faces of even more men now, who had noticed her.

She blushed suddenly and then caught on. "Oh I see!" She realized.

Copying the men, she shot them a wolfish grin of her own, and licked her lips for good measure, as one of them had.

If the men had been grinning before, now they were outright beaming. Happily, she beamed back, glad that she had made these men happy somehow. How… she wasn't quite sure. She hoped she was playing the game right…

Idly she wondered why some of them where rubbing their hands together… in… anticipation?

She turned her attention back to the man who now held Machin.

"I'm f-fine, thanks. He is too. Just tired. We were w-wanting to g-get a… um… room. With beds? Do you have those?" Ranma asked.

The look he gave her made her feel like she was two years old. 'It was an inn! Of course it has beds!' She thought, mentally slapping herself.

"I believe we do, but I'd better check first!" The man replied humorously as he took the unconscious man from Ranma's shoulder.

"Its ready, Gram. The room. Here's the key." Lanya said, holding up a small iron key.

Gram nodded as he threw the man over his own shoulder like Ranma had. "Give it too the girl. Come, miss. Ye look exhausted."

"I… thank you, mister." She replied, haphazardly. "Um.. here."

She held up the bag coins, meekly.

"Will this do?" She asked.

Gram took the bag and handed it to Lanya without a care for how much coin there was. He was a good innkeeper and a good man. He would help a woman carrying a beaten man into his room regardless of pay.

Lanya sighed exasperatedly staring at Gram, but took the sack of coins and returned to the kitchen.

"Follow me, M'lady. I'll escort you to your room. I assume you wish to stay with the man?" Gram asked gingerly.

Ranma only nodded, still quite nervously, and followed the balding man back to the room that had been made up for her.

* * *

Moghedien stood on the rise, watching below her. She hid in the shadows, always watching and waiting for the opportune moment. She was the spider. 

She had been the spider… now she was just a toy.

Still Chosen, so the Great Lord said… bah. She was a slave, and a puppet. Now. Ever since…

"Nynaeve al'Meara…" The words seethed from her mouth. So cold were they that the woman should have died then and there had she been thousands of miles away or just a few steps.

Only a few months before it had been since she had been captured by the damnable woman. Twice defeated. Twice… She had been captured with an A'dam. A leash for those who channel the one power. Forced to teach them arts that only she had known. Force to teach them…

But her punishment now was far worse that that… far worse…

She a slave in every sense of the word. Her mind had been enslaved at Shayol Ghul as punishment for her failure.

She shivered as she felt Morridin graze her cour'souvra, and terror ran down her back as if it were a living being.

The touch left but simple fear held her for several minutes before she could relax. If he crushed the cour'souvra, the mindtrap, then she would die. Not truly, but she would no longer have a mind… she would no longer have free will. She would be nothing more than a puppet at all.

"Not as if I'm much more now…" She thought bitterly.

The Great Lord was never merciful but she had slowly begun to regret her decision to become one of the Chosen. Regret even becoming what they now called a… darkfriend.

Idly she wondered what she would be like now if she had not become one of the thirteen chosen.

Then the notion slapped her. She'd be dead now, that was what. As a chosen, still a chosen, she was still immortal. Infinite time. Infinite time was more than enough to find a way to escape the mindtrap… though none before her ever had. Infinite time to return to the Great Lord's favor.

But did she want his favor anymore…?

Suddenly she found herself envying the weaklings… the… peons who prayed to their so-called creator.

"What would it be like…?" She murmured. "What would it be like be Lilen Moiral again?"

The beacon far below her lit. A black dome rose far above her from far below. Covering and smothering the ancient city of Aridhol. Rand al'Thor was using the one power, tied to the Choedan Kal. He was trying to cleanse the male half of the source. An amazing accomplishment… if he succeeded, but she did not think that he would.

A woman, incredibly strong in the one power in her own right, Saidar, was down there too. She was the one that Moghedien could feel. And could she feel it.

"So much of the source…" She thought. What would it be like? To hold that much of paradise? Saidar was a torrent of ecstasy and to hold even an ounce of what the girl below her held would feel…

"Magnificent…" She exclaimed in awe. In envy of the women who held so much.

Thousands of miles away, On the slopes of Shayol Ghul, where the power of the Dark One warped reality itself. The place nearest to the Great Lord. In the place closest to the real world that the gates of time had walled off so many eons ago, a man dressed in black stared in wonder.

He held Moghedien's cour'souvra a wary span away from his body. A small bauble of light, grey in color, had suddenly appeared out of no where flown straight into the wire and crystal construct which held Moghedien's mind.

Without warning, the construct faded to dust.

Thousands of miles away, on a hill overlooking the ruined city of Aridhol, now known as Shadar Logoth, Moghedien let out a scream of dying.

Her mind was burned and twisted as if mental hands covered with spikes were molding her brain. Spindles stuck into every part of her body like a thousand swords slicing her limb from limb.

Even through all the pain she kept her sanity. She hung on, barely.

"I served…" She croaked, not noticing the people approaching. She lay in the dirt writhing like the worm she now was. Not a spider… not anymore…

"I served… Morrid—" She uttered again, hoarsely.

Confirmation that Morridin was killing her. Crushing her cour'souvra. Was this what it felt like? For her mind to die? Was this it?

"W-why… I don't want… to die…"

A voice echoed throughout her mind like thunder.

"_Lilen…" _

Even through the pain, the spikes and swords and spindles, she gasped in shock. No one knew that name! No one!

And still it continued.

"_Lilen Moiral…" _

Her vision began to cloud over but she fought to remain consciousness. The pain was fading but she fought to make it stay. Pain meant she was still alive. Still _aware_. "Who are you!?" She begged soundlessly.

People were around her but she did not see them. Standing around her, trying to help her in some way, but she did not feel them.

"_It is time for you to make amends Lilen… you were not meant for the dark… Go home. Go back… Remember your creator and remember… My Senshi… you are forever bonded to the queen. It is time for you to make amends…" _

"My… namgh…" she gurgled, choking as the spindles stabbing her touched her throat. "is… Mog..ehadian…"

She was losing consciousness but she would not! She would see this through! If she was to lose her mind she would fight to the very end! She was Moghedien! She would not die a worm!

But two words brought her fight to a close in an instant.

"_Not anymore." _

In that moment the connection to the Great Lord, the bonds of her servitude granting her everlasting life, were severed.

She gasped. Words could not help her… pain still branded her but it was fading. A small thing by comparison. Shock and numbness caressed her.

"_You have done terrible things… it is time to make amends. Serve your queen… Remember how to love, Lilen… my child. You were not meant for the dark."_

With those words, Moghedien was no more.

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

Blood and Bloody ashes but that was a long time! Well what do you think! A rather dull chapter by comparison but things are finally _happening!_ Or at least beginning to happen. If you know what I mean. I'm sorry the update took so long. Real life blows. Stories are fun to write though and this one is in particular! I can't wait until I can start fulfilling these prophecies! The time is nigh! 

Since this took so long to write you should, as a faithful reader **Leave a Review!**

My Pre-reader took a metal bat to this chapter. Ouchie. Thank you as always and I hope my improvements are to your liking. I don't know if they quite fit the bill but I will agree on the reread my writing was still sub-par before your tweaking.

Well… hammering. Lol. Not much else to say. Next chap is either more Ranma or More Sailor Moon. Probably Ranma but I have a whole lot to do on both sections. I do need to introduce the next Senshi of Venus but if I do then the next chap will be from the Sailor Moon side. Normal earth at the moment. Wish me luck! I can't wait to see what you guys will say about me and my lil' piece of Fanfiction dot net! Reviewers make this site great!


	6. Many Beginnings

_For what man walks in woman's shoes?  
What woman lost all man could lose?  
Who else shall don the Garland of Kings?  
Who other would fly on battle's wings?_

_And lo, shall Dragon meet Dragon._

_For which men hold beast-blood in theirs veins?  
What man's people no longer sustains?  
Who else shall be called Rider of the Storm?  
Who other shall shift and change his form?_

_And lo, shall Dragon meet Dragon._

_For which three men shall bear same curse?  
What brave women stand under their hearse?  
Who else shall bring both worlds to one?  
Who other shall see the Creator's work done?_

_And lo, shall Dragon meet Dragon._

—_A Much Disputed Connection Prophecy_

_Thought to pertain to "The Karaethon Cycle"  
As Foretold in Dunsaled.  
Capital City of Shara.  
Date Unknown._

* * *

**Chapter Five: Many Beginnings**

* * *

Nyra'nael sat on a throne of the bones of a precious few of her victims. Her long devil-green hair flowed behind her, pulsing in tandem with the dark aura of power billowing around her. 

A dark cloak enshrouded her body and in her hand rested a scythe. A long ivory handled rod with demonic symbols banded all the way down the haft. A blade point of metal curved out to hang maliciously over her head. The first and only Angreal made for the True Source. Grafted by Shai'tan himself.

"_They'll all pay… All of them…" _

She cackled mirthlessly as her mind brought forth her now twisted thoughts. 'Crystal Tokyo! Hah! No… I don't want Crystal Tokyo…'

She rubbed her hands together insanely, grinning in anticipation and delight. Soon all would be hers.

_All._

Before her, in midair hung a miniature figure. A red-haired girl of about sixteen, dancing. Her hair hung loosely to her neck as she swirled in a lucrative pattern. She twisted flames about her body and danced. She was the light and the flames were the moths that danced around her.

Nyra'nael grinned and stood, facing the small dancer, who floated in mid air, the size of a palm, dancing. Carefree.

She didn't remember the girl's name. Or what the girl had done. She had forgotten names. They were pitiful things, changing every eon or so when the wheel spun each face a new name.

That would end soon though…

A swish of her hand and the small figurine's head was lobbed off. The tiny dancer fell over, blood spewing from where the head had been. The head dropped to the ground that was not there and bounced. Its eyes were wide a scream of horror, choked out by death. Then, both the head and the body vanished.

Even though she didn't remember the name of the person the small figurine who danced fire represented, she remembered that it was this girl's fault. All of it. And she wanted vengeance… This girl would die screaming.

She stood, the dark aura following her covered her in a black beyond the deepest pitch, and laughed.

In an instant, her power blasted forth. A great dome of black expanding further than the eye could possibly see. And at the center, she still laughed, madly. Her dead green hair flew about her wildly, the hood having been thrown back, dancing and flowing upward, buffeted by her massive aura. Death was her voice. Terror, was her eyes. Windows to a black, demonic soul, corrupted for an eternity. As she laughed in madness, the ground began to quake.

And rise…

* * *

Herb of the Musk stared far into the east. The land of the rising sun was aflame with power. The west though was dying. A great nation was being decimated before the eyes of the world. 

He laughed at their toils. Insignificant whelps. Misfortune of the people of America was quite amusing to him.

But he knew that when that nation fell, Japan would be the next under attack. Then more than likely Europe. By that time an amusing toil far oversees would more than likely have become death knocking on his door.

So, even through the humor of the attack, he felt compelled to assist. But first, he had to secure a bit of aid.

His first thought had been the Amazon's. They feared him still and would more than likely see the dangers in leaving the western lands alone in this. Few had his power. And that power would surely be needed before the end.

None of that was all that important at the moment.

There was something else, as well. He felt it, as only he could. A stirring. A… great build up. Something colossal was on the verge of happening.

He had no doubts as to who was at the center of it.

"Ranma Saotome." the cursed Dragon murmured. "How in the world are _you_ of all people linked to 'The Lady of the Flames?"

Even that, though, was a small scale compared to Herb's largest problem though. His dreams, of which he had many of late, were becoming sodden with prophecy. A small bit related Ranma Saotome to the legendary Lady of the Flames… but the most prominent by far of his dreams was a vision of a young man whose eyes could kill with their ice. He was hard. Tall and strong as a fortress, the man towered above Herb. Curly reddish hair on a strong and narrow face haunted his dreams. Herb felt the challenge of this man. And he would not back down.

"_The Dragon Reborn"_

Herb felt ill at ease with this knowledge. Frightened even. That this was happening now, was proof that there were no more Dragons left, save him. Him… and this other man.

He shivered, hating himself for what he knew he would have to do. The Dragon Reborn was calling, and Herb trembled. So much power. So _much!_ But Herb knew that there would be battle. A battle for the continuation of Dragons.

And now, since there were no true Dragon's left, Herb feared that he would be forced to… bear… the next. The magic was not picky and it always found a way. _Always._

A shiver crawled up his spine. "Damn you, Jusenkyo!"

To Dragons, true Dragons, it was an honor, a privilege to continue the line. Herb was half-human, and half dragon, and his human, his _male _self intended to make sure that did _not _shift the other way.

"Oh the humiliation, though! Damn you! _Damn you!_ I don't _want_ to do this!" He screamed. The magic would have none of it. It was pulling him now… manipulating him. Forcing him…

Slowly, he began the journey out to the balcony of his Musk home. The Dragon's perch. The tallest peak of the highest mountain in Musk Territory. Every step, agony as he tried to force his feat to turn the other way. Every mind numbing acre burned into his memory as the magic caressed him, forcing him to destiny.

To lose this battle… god the humiliation! But… but winning would be even worse! And he sincerely doubted that the magic would find the Dragon Reborn suitable. _He_ was… _Male!_

While Herb too, was male, he sincerely doubted that he had fallen in Nyannichuan for any other reason than—!

'Nyannichuan!' Even as he walked, the thought hit him.

And a plan concocted in his magic sodden mind. Finally, he smiled. The humiliation of losing, god how it _burned_ his pride, but to avoid the consequences of winning… he would do it.

His plan firmly in mind, he stopped resisting. Mile after endless mile, he traveled forward, his plan growing ever more firm in his mind.

And finally, when he reached the top, he answered the call.

Power unimaginable filled the Jusenkyo valley as its inhabitants shivered. A battle of Dragons was rare, but it had happened in the histories of the Joketsuzoku and the Phoenix people before. Their age old historians knew what was coming.

And woe be to the one who interrupted the Succession of Dragons

* * *

The streets of the city were filled with the thunderous sound of boots or hooves clapping on concrete. There really weren't that many more now on the city streets. The beasts traveled in small groups now save for the main horde in the park.

'Twenty.' Lyra thought grimly. 'Can I handle twenty?'

Her heart beat, pounding like a hammer on anvil, should have been audible for miles. Sweat and blood trailed down her cheek. Her blood. The beast's blood? Did it matter?

Behind her Jenny lay, cuddled in a ball. Pure terror surrounded, mixed with a good bit of self-loathing and hatred bound the girl in an abject silence born of fear. Lyra couldn't blame the girl though. She'd watched both her parents heads lobbed off that very afternoon. At least she was being quiet. The beasts hadn't noticed any of them… yet.

Her position in the side of the back alley behind a large green dumpster was not the best of positions.

'Yeah… the best would be at the top of a building with a sniper and a helicopter for escape…' She thought. Then, she chuckled to herself. Black humor was strangely fitting at a time like this.

She turned to look back to the small group gathered around her. Eight in all, most of the people here had hated each other, or never known each other, yet now all of them found themselves irreversibly in debt to her. She'd saved every one of them from at least one of the dreadful beasts so far.

Cherish had been a stuck up girl. Popular and beautiful yet she had the strangest name Lyra had ever heard. Who named their child 'Cherish?' Then, her own name wasn't exactly normal either. Nevertheless, that was who she was. Rich and snobby in Lyra's opinion, she had _owned_ high school life. The cliché beautiful blonde who had always gotten everything she ever wanted. High fashion, designer clothing, a fancy car, the works, had all been hers at the flick of her fingers. The invasion had brought her down a peg or two. Her clothes were almost shred to bits. Parts of her legs, arms, and even a bit of cleavage hung out openly for view, but went unnoticed even by the male patrons of her group. In her hand was a bloody over-used dagger. The blade was dull but somehow the girl was able to penetrate the beast's titanium armored skin with the metal dirk. She had done so twice now.

Lyra was proud of her despite their previous misgivings. She was the healer of the group. A minimal knowledge of nursing had led her to save the lives of two others in the group.

Logan was one such. His splinted arm hugged his chest tightly, though he most likely would have lived without Cherish's knowledge of splints. A tall man, with an average muscular build and jet black hair, he stood far taller than anyone else. He was Cherish's significant other. They were quite important too each other, and as far as anyone knew at the moment, they were all the other had. Something Lyra minded little. In his left hand was a pistol. Fool's weapon but it was better than nothing. Gunfire would draw every one of the bastards for miles around… Nothing but the strongest bullets could seem to penetrate their armor anyway, and they were covered so deftly that unless he got right next to one of the beasts he could never hit one.

Lyra's sharp eye flashed around the dumpster once more. They were still there, and coming closer. Soon their small group would be discovered. What were their chances? Cherish might kill one… Tim and Mat, twins yet both were quite young. Far younger than even she, at only a mere fifteen, they together might kill one with those lead pipes they picked up. If they could slam one of the beasts in the eye with one of those pipes they could do it.

That left eighteen… 'Oh god, eighteen!' Who else? Was there any hope?

Linda, the only real adult with them, possibly in her mid to late twenties, was completely unconscious. Slim and beautiful and dressed in the appealing outfit of a secretary, the effects of her beauty were marred by her injury. Yet she was still alive thanks to Cherish's minimal surgical knowledge.

'I'd be terrified too…' Lyra thought. 'If I were the one to know something like that…' The day before Linda had been screaming in pain. Her leg had been twisted and cracked at the knee bending to the right, bone protruding from punctured skin. Blood was everywhere.

Cherish, with her minimal knowledge knew that the only way the woman could live from the blood loss was an amputation followed by an immediate bandaging. The girl had done it herself with Lyra's weapon, cutting off the woman's leg. Ripped her own clothes with blood sodden hands to make the bandage, crying the whole way through.

"Braver than I ever gave you credit for…" Lyra murmured, staring at the blonde she had once hated, now feeling almost honored to be beside her.

Almost.

A small tugging, quiet as a mouse, alerted her to the eighth and final member of their small band.

"L-Lyra… are we… ok…? Please make them go away… I'm scared." Came the voice of an eight year old child named Lara. Lyra alone had seen the girl's parents sliced down like rabid dogs. She had been trying to save them but it was too late. In their last moments they stood and killed two of the beasts bare handed. Killed them _bare handed,_ trying to defend their daughter, guarding the staircase to the room above. Ever since, Lyra had taken care of the girl. Almost as a… replacement parent. They all felt a bit of that towards the small child. They were still children themselves though.

They had been lucky so far. Maybe… if they could make it to the outskirts of the city they could escape…

"It'll be ok sweetie. J-just lay back down under there okay? I… I promise! I promise I'll take care of you." Lyra said, trying her utmost to keep the tears of hopelessness from showing. She had to be strong. She was the only one who could.

The girl nodded. "I know it will." Then a smile, still trembling. The small black haired girl nodded.

As the girl silently slid herself back under the dumpster, Lyra prayed. 'Please… please deliver her from this nightmare. Let one so young live.'

When the girl was back under the dumpster and through the crawlspace into the building they had hidden beneath it, well out of earshot, Lyra firmed herself in her plan. Tears began to flow. She only had one choice, and that didn't involve the rest of them here. She couldn't take them out with her. She turned towards her fellow compatriots.

"G-guys… they are c-coming. Coming almost right here." She began in a hushed voice. "I-if… if they keep coming… we'll be discovered. They'll slaughter us. Y-you guys _have_ to run. Mat, Tim, I need you two to carry Linda. Jenny… Jenny… come on you've got to snap out of that. What would your parents think if you were killed while mourning them? You've got to keep _going_!" Her eyes trailed to Logan. A stern glare and a nod. "Keep Lara safe. If a hair on that girl's head is touched I swear I'll haunt you forever. You too Cherish. I'm counting on you guys to _make it!_ The army is reforming itself somewhere in the south. We know that much. You have to get there! It's your only chance… You guys…"

"And what are _you_ going to do, Lyra?" Cherish put in, still whispering.

Lyra gulped as tears began to stream down her face in rivulets. "I-I'm gonna… buy you guys some time."

Cherish's eyes, along with the rest of the groups eyes widened. "No! I won't let you go out there alone! Are you insa—!"

Tear stained eyes met tear stained eyes, as Lyra's head whipped around, silencing Cherish before another word was spoken. Then Lyra began. "It's the only chance you've got! I won't let that girl die! I won't! Please… please live! This is the only way!"

Cherish glared back at Lyra, her eyes now also glistening with wetness. "I won't let you throw away your life like that! We'll all run. We can make it together!"

Lyra realized that no amount of argument would dissuade her. And she knew that if they all ran… they would all be dead. Cherish knew that too.

Another gulp of fear and almost guilt, and Lyra was ready. "I'm going, Cherish." She turned and just as she was about jump out from behind the dumpster, she was tackled.

Cherish's arms wrapped firmly around her neck, eyes bawling into her shoulder, though still quietly.

"I'm so sorry… Lyra. For anything I ever did to you… please… please forgive me. You saved my life even though you've hated me… had every right to hate me. And now… now… you…!" Small hiccups were deposited into her tarnished t-shirt and tears soaking the sleeve. Lyra's hands wrapped around the older girl whom she had hated back in high school. Was that only a two days ago? It seemed an eternity.

A short minute that seemed a life time, and the two left the embrace… the eyes of her companions watching with apprehension.

"I don't know how to… to say this, Lyra." Cherish murmured, through choked tears. "I… I love you. Please… come back. We'll protect Lara together, okay?"

Where did the girl find the energy for a smile? Where? Even as the thought wafted across Lyra's mind a smile brimmed on her own face. A duplicate of Cherish. "I will."

Eyes narrowed. It was time.

She jumped to her feet and blasted out from behind the dumpster, to the surprise of one of the oncoming beasts now only a stone's throw away.

She ran towards the first like lightning, her blade glistening against the afternoon sun.

They had seconds to react. Seconds. The distance between her and the first beast, a beaked hideous creature with talons instead of feet, closed in a moment. The beasts head was her reward falling to the ground as her broadsword sliced through it, blood spewing across her weary face as the beast died with a howl of pain.

Her arm, already sore from days of killing and slicing one at a time, _burned _with effort it took to cleave her giant metal broadsword through the creatures thick neck.

The second lunged, its cutlass withdrawn. In an instant, it seemed it was upon her. She blocked the attack with the broad sword quickly changed to her left hand. Whirling the blade like it was a baton, she batted his cutlass away.

Her own arms were not so strong; they had no strength whatsoever compared to that of the beast. She was an expert though. Years of training for pure and simple enjoyment. How had it all come to this? Blocking with her blade in the left hand, she could never hope to bat away his blade with pure strength. Using momentum, she leaned her blade to slide the oncoming attacker's own off of hers, spinning him off balance.

His middle unguarded, she rammed the sharp blade through where his heart should be.

It wasn't enough yet, she knew.

She withdrew the blade, red blood caressing the entire length, as she felt the beast's shock and pain. It wouldn't be enough yet.

A sharp whistle of wind on air was her only warning to the incoming flail. She ducked, letting go of her blade and twisting to see the new attacker.

This one had a goat's mullet and boots. It was as thick as a railroad car. His flail was imbedded in the neck of the beast she had just run through. _That_ would be enough.

Quickly she stood and grabbed the hilt of her blade with her right hand. She withdrew and stabbed the new beast in the neck in the same motion, twirling the blade like a steel viper.

As the two beasts surrounding her fell, more took their place. Blood covered her, yet she was an angel of vengeful fury to these hell born creatures.

"I'll kill you all." She gurgled as she spit a bit of their blood from her mouth. Three faced her as the two she had just killed crumpled behind her. Three down, seventeen to go. They were grinning.

Suddenly, something whizzed by her from behind. It flew forward passing the beasts as well. An arrow?

It didn't matter. She charged, using every ounce of ability. Her legs ached and the gash down her right abdomen still bled when she ran.

It didn't matter. She would not let them die.

Slice, twist, slice, slash, dodge, slash. Three more trollocs hit the ground in a heap. Two decapitated and one screaming at its lost arms in agony.

'Six… only six? That's all? I've been fighting forever.' Thought her weary mind. If her arms were burning before, now they were melting in a sea of lava and heat.

Her breathing was ragged as the other bastards drew into a group. Grim hopelessness fell over her and grew along with an equal force of determination. "I won't let them die." She said, her voice deadly as it was weary.

She didn't get the chance to charge this time. The beasts were running forward. Fourteen. If she could just… just…

Another arrow whizzed by her and struck one of the monsters in the face. It toppled causing two behind it to tumble over with it. Thirteen… and a bit more time.

She set herself into an old defensive stance, her bloody razor-sharp blade gleaming, held in one hand up next to her face, her left hand out as if to block.

The first blade came, a whistle of speed. The swords were poisonous. She could not let herself be touched by that. She could not. She dodged to the left only to find three more blades. Pulling back she swatted at one, dodging the other two.

She backed more, further into the alley. God she hoped they were running! A lone beast advanced from the group. Perfect opportunity! It's blade swung down in an arch; the beast was faster than any of the others! No position to block, she had once choice. Her hands came together in an instant, halting the descending blade in a duel of strength.

She lost but had gained enough time to dodge as the blade broke through her waning grip. Enough time. Her blade sliced into the beast's throat. Twelve? Twelve left?

Another arrow whizzed out against the torrent of beasts, this one hit one in the neck. Eleven.

The beasts had to trample their fallen ally to get to her, and they did so readily. The fools cared for nothing but killing and eating. They wanted her in a cook pot.

That she would not give them. If she died it would be in so many pieces that they couldn't possibly eat her…

She charged forward to meet the rising advance, seeing a way to get around the group to the other side.

Her blade sliced through flesh, and clanged on body armor as she flew through the momentous monsters. She made it to the other side! How many she had hurt with the run she didn't know. She thought she had severed a leg. Hoped.

The beasts were confused in a tied heap. They smashed into the brick walls, destroying them with their powerful flails and falling bodies.

Lyra smirked. Small thanks. More room. This alley was too small but not so small that she was able to fight them one on one. Now, though, she could maneuver over the bricks into the buildings.

She tried to catch her breath, warily watching the snarling beasts as they untangled from their dead and left them to rot following their pray.

All of them faced her she thought. 'Good. They won't go the other way… Lara should be safe…'

God she prayed for that little girl's safety.

Focusing her attention on her attacking beasts, she felt too tired to attempt another charge. They advanced, snarling. Their grin's were gone and all that was left of sentience in them was mad rage. Her only hope.

As they began their charge, an avalanche of massive, tainted flesh, she twisted and climbed over the rubble into one of the busted buildings, dodging still falling bricks from now insecure parts of the ceiling.

It was a huge room with plenty of space to maneuver. A parking garage for a nearby Holiday Inn. Spotting a nearby elevator, a plan developed in her rapid mind.

Realizing, they were following her she ran still formulating her idea. The beasts followed her as she twisted around the floors. Up the same ramps traveled by thousands of vehicles she went, ever higher and higher into the seven story parking building and the monsters followed her.

Fourth floor! That should be far enough! She hit the button on the elevator which she had passed three times previously and saw the light at the top floor beginning to descend.

"Damn it all!" She cursed. The beasts were just coming up the next up-ramp. Her only shot was to hit the button on the next floor before the elevator descended too far.

Shot-gunning once more, she ran for the next up-ramp. Gasps of breath left her at every meter. Her eyes stung with the sweat beading down her forehead. Up the ramp and back again to where the elevator was. She'd made it! A fist, covered in sweat, smashed the elevator button catching the door before it descended any further.

Snarling echoed behind her as they fought for the right to kill her. Pushing the others away each tried to fight to get to her the fastest. She wouldn't let any of them have her! None!

The door opened. 'God, so slow! Hurry up dammit!' Thought her frantic mind.

She slid in and mashed the 'close door' button with her bloody hands. They were getting closer!

Eternity it took for the uncompromising elevator door to open all the way. And eternity more for it to begin to close. The beasts were no more than meters from her!

Lyra lay, spent and beaten in the elevator, watching the snarling beast clamber for her. Teeth barred and blades barred as well, Lyra felt fear beyond fear. Hatred beyond hatred.

Closer! Why wouldn't the damn door close faster!?

They were there! Three feet! Two! One!

Moments before the beasts could reach her the door closed, barring them from her. The clanging of blades and iron-skinned fists at the door indented served only to terrify the girl more.

Lying in the elevator, covered in the blood and death of her enemies, Lyra sobbed in relief and terror.

"God…" She murmured through the tears leaking from here eyes and mixing with the blood and sweat on her face. "God… Please help me…"

The elevator descended to the first floor. The beasts were stupid but they would wander back down eventually. This was her chance to escape.

When the door opened the distraught girl had caught a bit of breath. Her blade held firm she breathed a sigh of relief when the opening door held none of the deadly beasts now five floors above her. She ran to the broken wall, hoping over the pile of bricks collected at the bottom and followed the way her compatriots had run.

The way she hoped her compatriots had run.

She was still alive. And that was all that mattered for now.

She was still alive…

* * *

Serenity stared up at the man before her. He was a stocky man for a leader but he had a hard look about him. A look showing age and wisdom. And wise he was, though he was a pup compared to her.

"Where do you need help the most? That is all I want to know. No. That's all I _need _to know." She said in a voice that demanded no argument. Immediate answers were the only things that she would accept and that was all there was to it.

The room was small yet spacious. Three men stood behind a long desk covered with a sea of papers. The circular room was quite comfortable with chairs and small coffee tables decorating the sides of the broad oak doors behind her. Things decorated shelves all the way up to the unusually tall ceiling, especially by Japan's standards. Books and old items. Photographs of previous presidents and famous men and women throughout history. A small dresser stood at the far end of the room behind the three men holding still more papers and file folders.

Two guardsmen, on full alert stood at the doorway and two more stood on either side of the three men behind the desk. None of them were of importance to her though except for the one man sitting in the chair behind the desk. The President of the United States.

Usagi felt that she should have been in awe. Serenity, on the other hand, held no such childish thought. She was hard. Hard as she had to be. She had seen death. She knew murder. _She_ could handle anything.

The man sighed, his bodyguards surrounding him not flinching in the slightest, and placed his head in his hands. "Two smaller holes opened to attack New York on both sides. One appeared in Los Angeles and one appeared in Chicago. But this was only after they took out all our major political headquarters. The House and Senate buildings were annihilated. The Pentagon was attacked too but they took out the monsters. Even so the entire building was so decimated that it might as well be useless." He said drearily.

Serenity stared at the man as she listened, her magic translating his words to her language and her own back to him. He had a head on him; that was for sure. He'd heard the rumors about the Senshi and aloud them entry immediately, and that said something for him in the very least. Not a grand entry, what with corpses of broken trollocs strewn out all over the front lawn, but still he'd aloud them entry at first notice. He was tired though. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, and with good reason. His country was now at a war that had erupted in the course of a day. He was going to be overcome soon… She would not be at all surprised to find out the man had cried himself to sleep in the past few days.

He seemed so… broken. Old, yet he was only about thirty or so.

"May I ask, how you managed to survive? If military bases and the like have fallen, I find it hard to believe that this place, while well defended for normal times, would stand much of a chance." Serenity stated firmly. "Yet all the cadavers prove this place's defense quite thoroughly."

The man stared at her for a moment, seemingly trying to reconcile his mind. Then he looked at her, deep eyes boring into her own.

"We all would have been slaughtered. A boy killed them. Almost all of them. He woke several hours ago and called himself, Ryoga Hibiki."

Serenity gave a conscious blink. "R-Ryoga? I…"

"Miss… Serenity." The man interrupted suddenly, giving an odd twirk at her name. He still hadn't quite gotten over calling someone by such an odd name. "Do you know where these attacks are coming from? And why!?"

Yet another blink. Where had that tired age gone? Perhaps she had been wrong. This man was not giving up yet. That was worth smiling about though her face held a stoic placidity that radiated throughout the room with the same acknowledged power that her smiles had on her friends.

"Where is Ryoga sir. He is an acquaintance of mine. I would like to visit him if I may after this? You will have someone escort me too him after this I'm sure? Yes." It was not a question. "What have you been doing from here? Is this really the best place for you to be at the moment?"

The man almost snarled at her. Snarled! Well. She wasn't here to help _him!_ She was glad to note that he at least answered her.

"I've been doing what I can from here, trying to contact military bases and inform them. Ever since right after the attack I've been sending Morse Code messages to them all; they have been rallying their troops to the three cities. I… I've received no word from Los Angeles for the past twelve hours. Chicago seems to be alive. They are winning too, though thousands died… The citizens rallied themselves in some sort of group as rumor says so far. Something about a girl with a chain and another girl called "Blood Angel" came through on the radio but it cut off before we could get much more. We heard gunfire. New York… New York is in shambles… Its… we need you there… if anywhere. And maybe Los Angeles too."

Serenity listened with rapt attention as he spoke, and then, she nodded. Plans formed in her mind at his words. It would kill her, what she had to do, but her memories did not lie. Rei and Ami would have to go.

"Thank you. We will do everything we can to save this country, Mister President." She gave a small bow, traditional that, and turned to leave, walking back towards the doors and the waiting group of Senshi behind them.

"You did not answer my question…" He said. He stood and the guards hovering about the room, motioned to follow. He walked around the desk and towards Serenity with alarming confidence. "Do you know what these attacks are?"

She turned to look at him and he stopped, wary of her cold eyes. They softened at his flinch. She'd forgotten how intimidating she could be using this persona. A grim frown took her face as she said, "I have guesses. Speculations if you will. I believe… I believe this is related to my last Senshi of Pluto. For that I am truly sorry. If it turns out that she is to blame, then after this is over I will gladly give my life for the terror I have caused, if indirectly. If… If it is her… do not be surprised when I beg your country for forgiveness… I will leave you now, Mister Brindon, but I will return. Hopefully with better news. I will not let this, or any country die. Not one."

With that, she turned on her heels and walked through the closed doors, towards her waiting Senshi and smiled, as they stood from their various places scattered about the benches in the room and rushed towards her. Reassuring them was more necessary than anything.

"H-how did it go, Serenity-sama?" Mars asked almost nervously.

Her eyes hardened. "It isn't as bad as I feared. Only their major military bases and political buildings have been attacked as well as the three largest cities. We are going to New York. That appears to be the worst place. Mars. Mercury. I… I don't like to do this but… are you up to going it alone?" Serenity asked; her tone had faded to the softest and kindest she could make it as soon as she turned to Mars and Mercury. For them, she could be soft as butter.

"I… I don't know. I... yes. What do you ask of me… Serenity-sama?" Rei asked. Usagi was a changed girl. A changed woman. They all knew that now. Rei knew that now. If Usagi asked her to die for their cause, Rei wasn't sure if she would even waver. She didn't know where this huge surge of loyalty and… love had come. But she hoped it never left. Not ever.

Mercury felt similar but she kept quiet. What her princess ordered, she would do. 'That's how it had been then. Wasn't it?' She asked herself thoughtfully. A rhetorical thought. She knew it had been. Usagi wasn't the only one receiving a few memories. Not anymore. A shiver flooded through Ami's spine as she remembered how they had begun seeping into her own mind not so terribly long ago.

Suddenly, Usagi was herself again. No flash light shows, no transformation. The outfit simply faded away, and Usagi was just that. Usagi.

"Rei. What I'm going to ask of you and Ami is extremely dangerous. And… and I don't know how long it will be before we can see you again." She said, her eyes brimming over. "But… I know what my memories are telling me. They… I know what needs to be done. But… I can't order you… I _can't_ do that! You're my friends! You might have been just a sword-arm to Serenity then but now you're… You… Rei and Ami. I love you. I think I always have… but I can't sit back while people die!" Emotion blazed through her words as the other Senshi watched.

Her words echoed about the small waiting room in the lobby of the White House. All in all the room was quite empty save for a few guards at the doors and the Senshi. It came to Usagi suddenly, that she might have been babbling a bit she realized and this was hardly the time for it. She fidgeted, carefully choosing her words. The Senshi were her arm. They were _her_ arm. That was all they were supposed to be. Her guard and her arm. And… now she had to act like a queen. But she would not- _could not_ -force them into this.

"New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have been attacked. While many more military bases were targeted, they are not places where civilians are. They are military and, no matter how much I hate it, they are second priority. Chicago appears to have united and are leading a battle against them. They seem to be making it, and I… I think our new Venus is there. Venus was always subtle with her messages to me. New York is being destroyed though and they haven't heard anything from Los Angeles in twelve hours. Rei, Ami… I want you to go there. If Uranus and Neptune were still around I would ask them but—"

"Yes, Usagi-Sama." The words were robotic and in unison. Both of them blinked and looked at each other in shock. "Y-you too!?" Ami asked, almost frightfully.

Rei broke into a grin suddenly and Ami couldn't help but follow.

Usagi blinked as well. What in the hell was… that all about? "You too…?" She questioned slowly glancing between the two of her Senshi. "What… what does that mean?"

Rei smiled a genuine grin. "You aren't the only one getting memories anymore meatball head! Me and Mercs here joined the club!"

A wide grin broke out on Usagi's face and she almost burst into laughter even as tears threatened to wrack her system. She wasn't alone! She let out a small giggle as the name came to mind. Mercs. Mars's nickname for Mercury in the Silver Millennium.

Makoto and Mamoru, the only other Senshi now, looked on with avid interest. "D-does… does that mean we're gonna start getting memories too? And why now?" Makoto asked.

Makoto shivered inwardly as she glanced from Mercury to Mars and back. And at Usagi. How… how changed she had become. How truly different. Would that be the same for them all? Would… would she recognize herself in a year? Yes. A very big shiver crawled down her spine. Even as she thought, suddenly a memory of her own blasted through her. Her eyes glazed over but no one seemed to be paying attention.

All of them looked thoughtful for a moment of silence until Mamoru broke it. "It might have something to do with the time gate being destroyed." He said, wary of bringing up bad memories. Even so the others stiffened a bit.

Usagi sighed discontentedly, but silently agreed. "That it might."

It was a subtle thing that she felt for Mamoru now. The overflowing love that had once been there for him was fading and fading fast. As her memories grew, she felt the weight of her years and knew that he was becoming too… young for her. She didn't want to give up on their love yet though… Not yet… Giving him a winning smile which she hoped conveyed the love she had once felt for him, she turned to Mars and Mercury and enveloped them both in the embrace of a mother to daughters.

Eternity it seemed before they parted and eternity well spent. When they left the embrace Usagi eyes trailed tears as she smiled brightly. "Mars… Mercury. We'll be apart for a while but… We're always with you okay?" Warmth flooded through her words. Her Senshi. Hers.

"We won't fail Usagi." Mars said.

"I don't care if you fail." Usagi said, with a small lace of sharpness in her words, coated entirely by the pureness of Usagi before the memories. The old Usagi, who only loved her friends. "Save as many as you can. Do your best. Don't die… if… if either of you were to… to…!"

Usagi felt like a mother sending her child to war! God how it tore at her! She wracked her brain. A way for them to settle the field on both fronts one at a time! No… Damn she was already leaving Chicago to fend for itself! But… her friends…

A hand began rubbing her back consolingly. "We remember being your hand, Serenity. And we'll always be your friend Usagi. But you are the queen now. And where you direct. We go." It was as simple as that. Mercury's words, with the heart of pillow friends, and also the hardness of a soldier and guard, pierced Usagi as she looked up to meet the blue-haired girl's eyes.

They met. And smiled. And nodded. It was time be gone.

"Okay. I'm going to send you now." Usagi said when suddenly a man approached.

"Miss Serenity." The man stated, directly to Usagi, ignoring the others. "I believe you asked for an escort to see Master Ryoga Hibiki? Yes. Quite. Well he is—!"

"They're here!? How in the world did they get— _Usagi!!_" Came a voice that Usagi had not heard in a _long _time.

It was with horror that Usagi realized that she had completely forgotten her advisors! All this time! God, she hadn't even _thought_ of the two moon cats! A frenzied, thinner and somewhat feral looking Luna came running like mad towards her followed by an equally feral Artemis.

"Luna! Artemis! What in the world are you doing here!?" She exclaimed as she knelt and enveloped Luna. Artemis came to a stop nearby and preened himself around her knee. "Oh Luna… I've missed you… so much! Wh-where have you been!?"

"Uh… I… I can answer that." Came the voice of Ryoga, nervous as always.

They all blinked as they looked at the man. No longer did he sport the shoddy traveler's pants and yellow shirt and jacket that they had come to expect. Now he wore loose-fitting slacks and a plain white fabric that clung to his muscular frame. His arms were bare and seemed wary. His bandana was now gone, but in its place rested a strange golden circlet with a sigil stinted into the center at his forehead bearing a strange red eagle. The umbrella he had always carried remained in place atop the pack at his back but now against his waist hung a long bladed sword.

All in all he seemed almost… knightly.

"Ry-Ryoga…" Rei said, haphazardly with a slight bit of awe in his voice.

"Where is Venus?" Artemis broke in suddenly, glancing all around. Then her eyes came to rest on Usagi. "Where is Minako, Usagi? Did she have to stay in Japan for some reason?"

Tears welled in Usagi's eyes as innocent cat eyes looked at her with questioning assurance that his owner was safe and sound. As the tears began to leak down her face, Usagi turned from Artemis and shook her head. "I'm… sorry Artemis…"

"Usagi…! What happened!?" Artemis cried, a touch of panic in his voice as he walked around to where her gaze now faced. Mamoru's feet.

"Usag—!"

Hand suddenly encircled the white cat advisor and she was lifted into the air. Mamoru turned the cat around and looked into his eyes. "Mamoru!?" He exclaimed. "M-Mamoru, what happened to Minako?!"

He remained silent too and just looked away, unable to answer. Artemis shifted his gaze first to Ami. _"What happened to Minako!?" _The cat screamed fitfully.

"She died…" Jupiter finally answered. "S-Setsuna killed her… Artemis…"

"S-Setsu… Setsuna! B-but… that's not… Not—!"

Mamoru's hand began to massage the cat soothingly. "Michiru too, Artemis. Setsuna betrayed us all."

The cat, overwhelmed and disbelieving, feinted in shock, falling out of the surprised Tuxedo clad man's hands.

"No! No Artemis!" Luna exclaimed. "No! Don't! It's not your fault! We can transfer you! P-please Art—!"

She scrambled away from Usagi and dashed to the white cat. "No… Artemis…"

Usagi knew what was happening. She swirled her hands and the moon sigil appeared on her forehead as she began to invoke planetary magic. It was her decision, not his. He knew better than that. "Moon Link." She murmured. It was not a loud attack spell as most were. Almost as silent as a whisper, no one even noticed her move until Artemis began to glow white.

"Transfer." Usagi said, this time loudly and all eyes whipped to her.

In an instant, Ami became a pole. From her lax yet worried position she stiffened, standing as tall as she could, head held up in what appeared to be pain. She made no sound though she clenched her fingernails into her palms as if she was about to burst. Slowly, the light from Artemis began to sift to her. Slowly, surely, the light around them changed and became equal.

After a moment that seemed an age, Ami relaxed. Her feet touched the floor and she looked down, astonished that she had actually been lifted from the floor. Artemis remained unconscious but was breathing steadily.

"U-Usagi?" Jupiter asked, confused. "What did you—"

"Artemis will stay with you from now on, Ami. He will be your advisor as he was to Minako. I'm sorry but you were the best choice and I had no time to ask. He was invoking the 'Death by Right' magic and I refused to allow it." Usagi said, a queen in all but outfit once more.

Ami stared reluctantly for a moment, first at Usagi, then Artemis. After that she nodded, still warily.

"We don't have time for this, I'm afraid." Usagi said, turning back to face all her Senshi. "Mars. Mercury. It's time to go."

"Wh-where are they going?!" Ryoga broke in suddenly.

Usagi turned a gaze to Ryoga but found him looking directly at Rei, who was looking back with the same intensity. She smiled. Attraction? At a time like this? Who knew? And who was she to try and stop it?

"I'm sending them to Los Angeles, Ryoga. Another of those holes opened there and the monsters are attacking the city. They are going to defend it." She said simply. "Would you like to accompany them."

"No!" Rei shouted suddenly and glared at Usagi, who was grinning widely. "I… uh… I mean… We don't need him! We can do this on our—!"

"Never turn down an ally when you know you will need one. No word has come from Los Angeles in at least twelve hours Rei. People are _dying. _Take any help you can get. Okay?" Usagi said. A smile was on her face now, as she wiped tears from the thoughts of Minako. Now was not a time for tears, and with any luck her bit of matchmaking might bear fruit one day.

Rei hesitated and looked at Ryoga, who was now caught between staring at Artemis, now held carefully in Ami's arms, and Usagi and Rei. Only a moment she hesitated. Then, she nodded. "R-Ryoga. W-would you like to come with us? Please? We… could use the help…"

Ryoga grinned in his sheepish manner and Rei could help but blush a little. Why did that grin make everything seem just a bit better? "I'd be glad to… but… Luna and Arty..."

"Will be fine. Artemis is going with you." Usagi interjected. "Luna. I will need you—!"

"I'm with you, where ever you go, Serena." Luna said. And then gaped in astonishment.

"Luna…?" Usagi asked.

"I… Usagi I…" Luna stammered. Why had she called Usagi…?

"Everyone is getting their memory back… aren't they?" Jupiter said, suddenly, drawing all eyes. She had come out of her own memory relapse some time ago. Due to that, she been mostly quiet till now, but all the attention was now on her. "I remember you, Serena. Usagi… You're like you were… back then. Your name was Serena. I remember. But… it doesn't change anything does it? Twenty thousand years ago or now… we're still yours. How long have you been keeping that Usagi?"

Usagi smiled and nodded. "Yes… You are all mine… I… didn't want you to remember that. You know. I'd hoped… hoped you'd just think that you did anything I asked because… because you really wanted too. Not because of a bond made in magic at birth. I love you… all of you… I… hope this doesn't make you see me as less."

Ami grinned and brought her own opinion in. She'd remembered this too. "Usagi… Serena… I think we'd do it anyway. Even without the bond promise. I trust you with my life, and I know you do what you think is right. That's all there is too it, you know? You're the queen. And you are our liege. We are yours."

Rei on the other hand, had not remembered what Jupiter and Mercury were talking about. She looked warily between the two, wondering what in the world she was missing.

Usagi locked eyes with Mercury, who met them with her own in kind, and said, "Thank you… Byan-Atama."

Ami had the grace to blush and Rei laughed aloud. Ancient words for 'brain-head' or simply 'brains.' Mercury's nickname in the past. At lighter times, Rei would have been rolling with laughter. Not all the memories were bad. Not all of them.

"It's time. Rei. Ami. Ryoga. Form a circle. Make sure Artemis is in it too. It'll… be awhile before we see each other again. Make sure to stay in contact."

Wordlessly, the three moved to make the circle, Ryoga, clueless until he watched Ami and Rei join hands and reach to him.

"Goodbye, Ryoga." Luna intoned as Ryoga walked away.

He turned back with a grin. "Oh come on, Cat! I'll be back before you know it! I killed a whole army of these myself ya know! Heh… bye Luna."

Luna sighed and hopped up to perch on Usagi's shoulder. This boy was hopeless! Even so, she gave him a goodbye smile. She'd grown fond of him in their time together…

That's not to say she _liked _the jerk though!

Once the circle was formed, Usagi began to move her hands once more. The magic bringing the place she wanted to go forward into her mind, she pushed, and their world blasted into color to the soundless movement of Usagi's hands.

Light erupted all around them and a swirl of color. At first the others could look and see the swirl of pinks and blues and yellows and greens erupting from the trio. But then, white enveloped them all. The others were blinded and forced to look away. A slight pop. And then… Ryoga, Artemis, Mars, and Mercury were gone.

As Tuxedo Mask, Jupiter, and Luna were recovering their eyesight, Usagi, completely unfazed by the light, said, "Okay. Now us.

* * *

Big-Breasted Bimbo glared at Spatula Girl even as the Old Crone glared at the Old Goat. It was a rare and strange thing that they had ended up together. Even more odd the fact that all of them were getting along. Had been getting along.

"Shampoo not stupid! You take back, Spatula Girl!" Shampoo exclaimed angrily.

"Well, maybe, you stupid bimbo, if you'd learn my _name_ I wouldn't call you stupid! Ever think of that, sugar!?" Ukyo returned in kind.

"Ladies… Please do us all a favor and stop this. It's not helping." Nabiki stated firmly.

At the comment, both Shampoo and Ukyo's eyes widened in surprise. It was rare for Nabiki to interrupt a fight, knowing full well that if she ever _truly_ provoked anger that she would be demolished. Or… would have been, once upon a time.

"I don't want this boat to sink. Now if you two don't settle down I'll make one hundred percent sure that you never show your faces in your respective home towns again! And don't think I don't have the ability to do it!" Nabiki shouted, her anger barely kept in check. It was often like that of late.

Shampoo and Ukyo both backed off a bit. Nabiki _did_ have dirt on the two and she _would_ use it. For Ukyo it was merely more naked pictures than any sane Japanese girl wanted leaked out. For Shampoo, it was slightly… _more. _Somehow, how Shampoo hadn't quite figured out yet, Nabiki had discovered Shampoo's temporary alliance with Pluto all that time ago, and was now making up for it in kind. That Shampoo had _let_ herself lose a fight in order to help rid herself of Ranma was the type of shame that Shampoo would not- _could not _–have found out.

She didn't give a lick about the naked pictures Nabiki had of _her_ though.

Cologne and Happosai meanwhile were both stretched out languorously along two lawn chairs. Well. Languorously in everything except for the heated glares directed at one another.

"I'm _not_ letting you see them and that is final!" Cologne stated in irritation. "The Almonrik Scriptures are not to be viewed by any man much less… _you._" She said, sneering the word 'you' with barely concealed disgust.

Happosai pouted but contented himself quickly as he lay back on his own lawn chair. It was an extremely comfortable cruise that they had been afforded by Nabiki's efforts and he was going to enjoy it.

They had met quite some time ago and had been together for just as long. It had become apparent that America was being decimated and a quick decision had led to them finding a way to get there. The fastest way was to fly across the Pacific Ocean but it appeared that all aircrafts to America were no longer operational. They'd been lucky to find one of the last carriers sailing that way and, with Nabiki's express help, booked a passage.

Someone had to assist. Darkness was falling and the Amazons _would _be there! As soon as it was found that the America's were under attack Cologne began to plan a way to assist. Happosai had not been too hard to convince either. He may be a pervert but when innocents were dying, his heart was in the right place, as would his fist be.

Mousse, Happosai, Cologne, Nabiki, Shampoo, Ukyo, Kodachi Kuno, and thirty or so other Amazon warriors were all in attendance aboard this massive carrier. An odd traveling group but it had the right intentions none-the-less.

Shampoo huffed and walked away, embracing Saidar and picking up her Bonbori and a cup of tea from a nearby patio table. It floated to her lips and she drank, happily as she sat shaded by the large umbrella covering the table. Saidar was quite possibly the greatest thing to have ever happened to her. And the worst.

Ukyo followed, walking away from Nabiki and gripping the teapot in flows of air, poured herself her own cup.

Shampoo's brow furrowed. Both were nigh on perfect equals to each other in strength and how much of this proverbial _ocean_ of power that they could draw from. Both incredibly strong in their own right, and equally leagues beneath Nabiki which had been the other reason they had both backed away. An irate Nabiki gripping them both in flows of air like steel and smacking their bottoms with those same flows had been probably the most embarrassing moment in either of the two's lives.

Nabiki smirked. She _liked_ Saidar. Very Much. Being stronger than anyone present in the One Power had its quirks, and if Pluto had taught her anything well, it had been how to use Saidar. She had naturally jumped at the chance to find a way to overpower the various martial artists and learning it had been quite mild a challenge in comparison to figuring the daily totals for the betting pools she used to run. An enjoyable challenge. Embracing the source was like falling into a sea of awareness and life that she had never felt before. Unimaginable power and unimaginable life flowing through her veins and sharpening her senses.

Ecstasy…

This was why she was going along at all. If she hadn't been able to channel she would not have come but now that she could, she had power. And her heart was in the right place too. She was a Tendo after all.

The ship sailed onward. It was a long journey and they had been only traveling for about a day or so. Another week for them to reach California in America. But they would get there, and give whatever help they could

* * *

It was with some effort that Rand felt his eyes force themselves open. He was dreary, tired, his side burned with all power of a writhing flame, and his head hurt. But… where _was _he?

Looking around and getting his bearings straight, he threw his legs over the side of the plush mattress he rested on. Shaking his head once or twice, he glanced around the room, warily. A fine room, Tairen if he wasn't mistaken, graced his eyes. A magnificent bed with four posts and a magnificent overhang drapery hung above his head. A fire burned brightly in the hearth, keeping the room snugly warm.

'Why…? Why am I here?' He thought drearily, wondering how he had gotten to this place.

Suddenly it all came back in a flash. The access keys. The Choedan Kal. The battle with Saidin and Saidar, in effort to cleanse Saidin of the taint. With Nynaeve. Wait… Min!

Turning like a madman, he looked left and right sporadically and breathed a mountain's worth of relief at finding the beautiful tomboy-esque girl lying asleep beside where he had lain. He felt for the bond and found her, snug and comfortable, yet worried in her sleep. Further away were Aviendha and Elayne, but both were there in the back of his mind, somewhere far to the north. With them so far he could not feel their emotions… their pain, their need like he could with Min sitting right next to him. Light. He could spend an eternity trying to find out everything about the three of them. He _would_ spend the rest of his life that way if he could.

Min was tired. She had gotten to sleep mere hours ago, though she had also fallen asleep with him when he had finally finished it at Shadar Logoth too.

The Dragon Reborn. The Lord of the Morning. Rider of the Storm. The Coramoor. The Car'a'carn. He Who Comes With the Dawn. All were titles of his. All were views of who he was. The man who was born to face the Dark One when he escapes his prison once again on the slopes of Shayol Ghul.

Quite the heap to put on one man. To the Aiel, he was the Car'a'carn. He would break the people and bond them anew and unless they followed him, all of them would die, though most would anyway. There was nothing he could do about that.

To the Sea Folk, the Atha'an Mierre, he was their Coramoor. He hadn't quite figured out what their prophecies regarding him entailed, but the Bargain gave him Atha'an Mierre ships wherever he needed them while he gave them ports in all major cities. Not too bad of a bargain.

But to everyone else… he was the Dragon Reborn. And that meant that he would break the world again. That he would go mad. No, he would be the world's salvation and kill the Dark One bringing a new era of peace. No, he would kill the Dark One and then _become_ a new Dark One and destroy the world. So many thoughts, so few had actually read the prophecies that none really knew what would truly happen. He _had_ read the prophecies and _he_ didn't know what would happen.

He put his thoughts to the side and reached for the source. A battle, gripped him, biting his soul and gnawing at his entrails. Even so, the heat felt glorious; the cold of it felt like a taste of heaven. Best of all, the taint was gone. Truly, the Dark One's touch of the Male half of the source, Saidin, had finally been cleansed. The burning in his side, lessened. The age old pains from the Dragon brandings on his forearms, the heron brandings on his palms, seemed nothing. Finally. Finally Rand al'Thor had claimed a victory over the Dark itself.

A day for celebration.

He stood and walked to a nearby chair, finding a coat and some good woolen pants fit for riding. They assumed he would be leaving and they assumed correctly. But not for a bit. Dressing quickly, he through on the undershirt and wrapped the lace trimmed coat around himself. It was a bit hot for a coat but that did not matter to him. It would be cold outside even as far south as Tear.

Quickly, he belted on the sword that always hung at his side. High quality but no blade-master's sword, he felt comfortable with it.

As he dressed he realized he shuffled a bit too much when the sleeping girl on the bed began to twist and squirm a bit in morning comfort.

"Rand…" Min murmured suddenly as an eye slowly cracked open.

"Min. I—!"

Even as Rand spoke… he vanished

* * *

A flash of light and suddenly Rand was stumbling along a wide grassy plain. He tripped and fell, smashing his face into the soft dirt, thankful that it _was_ soft.

Quickly he arose, alert as a cat in a dog pen. All around him a presence filled his mind. Power, and lots of it. It was different from Saidin, different from the true source, but it felt incredible. Looking around he saw mountains in the distance to the right. To his left was a sheer drop he thought and ahead was naught but more plains. He drew the sword, and embraced the source in tandem, feeling the power run through him and grip him like a vice. His hearing heightened and his sight became tenfold.

His heightened senses gave him new insight and he felt where that power was coming from. Turning towards the mountains, he saw it. A great beast, black as midnight, with scaled skin that shimmered like moonbeams on clear water was blasting towards him. Great black wings, bat-like in their enormousness, flapped with a wingspan of what appeared to be endless. The beast was like a mammoth, a long neck and face, with snakelike eyes and a huge belly. The wings flapped as the beast grew larger. Flying towards him.

Rand feared no beast. He had killed five Grolm with five arrows when the only vulnerable spot on a Grolm was their tiny, beady eyes. Bested more Trollocs and Myrdraal than most likely any man alive. Dispatched Draghkar and blasted Gray Men into oblivion; he'd even dealt with the Seanchan's feared Rakin and To-Rakin.

But this was no beast. Rand searched through his mind and found only one name for the majestic creature targeting him like a hammer to a nail. A Dragon.

A true Dragon.

With that, Rand knew this would be no simple battle.

Forming the weaves with simplicity of experiences, he grafted earth and fire into a ball of flame the size of three men and hurled it at the Dragon.

Not skipping a beat, the Dragon continued it's advance and charged the ball, rearing it's head back opening it's gigantic mouth wide. Breathing, the Dragon let loose a torrent of raging inferno, stopping the advancing ball of flame like a tidal wave.

The Dragon was far still but Rand had never seen anything fly so fast. The Rakin were nothing. Flying beasts that moved like birds. Comparing this beast to a Rakin was to compare Rand's fireball to the Sun.

Rand flipped back, and drew the sword, knowing it would probably be of no use. He looked up and found the Dragon gone. A huge thud drummed across his ears and Rand heard a deep breathing. Turning as fast as he could, he found the Dragon sitting there on its haunches, it's head reared back.

Shocked, Rand leapt back, even as the long Dragon's neck stretched forward and let loose another tsunami of writhing flame breath.

The breath traveled like lightning, following wherever Rand ran and scorching everything in its path. He ran to the cliff side, away from the Dragon like a rat running from an angry cat. Phaw! A rat running from a Lion!

Fear began to edge through Rand but he had tried nothing yet.

The flaming scorch stopped long before Rand reached the cliff side, and as soon as he felt the roiling heat disappear, he turned to face the Dragon, weaves of Saidin being flung like mad.

Lightning fell from the sky and was dodged by the black beast with ease as it flew towards him, inches from the ground and moving faster than anything Rand had ever seen. Weaves of air grappled with the Dragon but it broke them as if _they_ were twigs, flying through them like butter!

Rand grit his teeth as he ran further and jumped slamming face first into the ground even as the beast swooped over him, it's maw in the place where Rand's body had been mere seconds before.

Standing quickly, Rand saw the beast fly into the midmorning sun, doubling back and coming in for another swoop from the same direction. A great roar, murdering and deafening in it's horrendous hue blasted through Rand's ears as he stood, only to be forced to run again.

The cliff was getting closer. A span? Two? He couldn't be sure. Saidin raged within him as he stopped ready to make his stand. He feared _no _beast! None! Dragon or no!

"I am the Dragon Reborn!" He screamed, his voice a mountain of its own, ice that could freeze the most hardened of men.

Saidin, burning in him like a raging thunderstorm, yet clean and crisp to his touch, exuberated in his confidence. Through it he pulled and a gigantic wall of air blasted from his person and slammed into the enormous Dragon, sending the beast spiraling out of control in the other direction. A huge bat running into an invisible wall.

Rand smirked. It was not so strong as he had thought.

The Dragon, sprawled on the grass a hundred paces away, stirred for a moment, before blasting up and staring, eyes boring into Rand's with the glare a thousand deaths refracted in those narrowed irises.

Rand had mere seconds before the Dragon moved. Words, but he could not understand them, and the Dragon's three pronged claws sliced vertically from the ground up.

A slice of focused power, the same type as that which entrenched this entire place, hurled towards him so fast that Rand could barely see it. A slice of air flew like a moving crescent blade through the air to slice him in half down the middle.

Rand darted to the right and looked back, only to spot another flying towards him, the Dragon, it's claws slashed horizontally this time far behind. Rand let himself fall to his back, slamming haphazardly into the soft dirt beneath him as the blade of air sliced above his falling form.

Kicking himself up as fast as he could, he saw yet another blade. Too close! He moved. An instant and he was flung back.

Dazed, he realized he was on the ground. Light! His arm burned! Why?

He rolled over as fast as he could, a fraction of a second before another blade sliced through the ground he had lain on.

Sparing a glance for his obviously wounded arm, he realized what had happened. Blood covered his arm. What was left of it anyway. The skin itself had been sheered off as if it were hair and the Dragon's attack, the razor.

Gaping in astonishment, Rand finally realized the pain. He could take it though. Next to the taint on Saidin, having his skin ripped off was nothing. His face turned to the Dragon in hatred and he placed his hand forward. Weaving a wall of air around him, batting the next two waves of knife-like air with ease. His eyes narrowed in fury, glaring down the Dragon, who appeared to be breathing heavily.

"I'm no easy meat." He said. Unbeknownst to him, Rand's own eyes narrowed all of a sudden, becoming slit-like and shimmering.

The Dragon… grinned if that were possible. Then it was on the move again flying forward with that same incredible speed towards Rand with the ferocity to match ten Myrdraal. A hundred!

Rand faced the beast head on. He did not fear death. But now was not his time. This was not Tarmon Gai'don, and he would not die here.

Watching the Dragon, he drew deeply on the source. Saidin raged in him, though nothing like the incredible bastion of power he had held at Shadar Logoth, cleansing the taint. Even so, he was the strongest alive in the male half of the power, and that did not go for nothing. Affront Rand and thirty paces right or left of him, barring the Dragon's path, rose a wall of searing magma ten feet into the air. It bubbled and sunk steaming with moist heat. Steam rose off it in spades as the Dragon attempted to come to a screeching halt.

As soon as he brought forth the wall of magma, Rand moved; running to the right while making sure to keep out of the Dragon's line of sight, he smirked when the Dragon blasted through the scorching lava, screaming a howling its torture as the boiling rock scalded the glistening scales on the Dragons face and belly.

Rand dropped his weaves and the wall of magma slumped to the ground, a line of molten black piles of melted rock and ash gurgling in the morning heat.

Sweat trailed down Rand's brow as he thought of what to do next. In the back of his mind Lews Therin was there, screaming in madness. That did not concern him though. Only what to do next. The Dragon seemed to be recovering.

Realizing that he had lost the sword he had carried somewhere in battle, he drew on the source and summoned the blade of shining fire that he had used so long ago. It was not _Callandor_, but it would do to pierce this monster's heart.

Weaves began to form and clouds rumbled in over head. Lightning began to spew forth from the heavens striking down on the Dragon at Rand's command. Rock and soft dirt flew everywhere as the bolts exploded into the ground. Somehow the Dragon dodged the falling bolts while still in it's tumble from the magma.

Rand rushed forward while the Dragon finally seemed to recover its balance.

The Dragon landed on it's haunches, one wing bared to Rand. As Rand approached the Dragon batted that one gigantic wing, creating a simultaneous _whomp_ of wind that rush at Rand, knocking him off his feat by the wind alone.

Rand recovered quickly only to find more of the razor-like air from before, whipping towards him. He dodged it nimbly, ready for them this time and brought up another wall of air to deflect the next two coming towards him, only to find another blazing inferno of firebreath hurdling towards him.

Momentary panic and Rand felt himself quiver. He turned and bolted towards the cliff, coming closer to it but stopped still short and turned.

Impact! The beast was there even as its one of its smaller yet still gigantic claws slammed into Rand's back. He flew, pain taking away all thought; one of the nails had raked along his back entrenching his skin and decimating his shirt in pools of blood. It wasn't until he was well into his decent that he realized what was happening. He was falling, falling. He'd been rocketed over the cliff!

_Bamboo?_ Said the strangled voice of Lews Therin.

Rand did not know what bamboo was and it did not matter to him. There were pools down there! Hundreds of tiny springs. He had to aim for one! No! A better idea!

Saidin filled him and he landed harshly on a platform of air, stunning him as he landed in a toppled mess. Bloods spilled from his wounds and landed on the platform, hanging in midair. The Dragon swooped by in anger as it had apparently been trying to catch him in the fall.

Rand had little time to think and less to act. He stood, his platform raising him higher into the air. It was becoming difficult to ignore the pain slicing through his back and his right arm.

Another bolt of lightning fell, this one weaker, and the Dragon dodged it as nimbly as it had all the others. Master of the Sky, the true form of a Dragon.

It swooped towards Rand and grasped him by the torso pinning his arms in its enormous claw, swooping further down than ever before as it destroyed Rand's platform as if it were nothing.

Rand struggled but it did nothing. He would not die here! He would not! Anger and rage were filling him and as he prepared a counterattack, readying more weaves with Saidin, the beast halted in the air.

The claw brought Rand up, staring into the eyes of the Dragon, mere feet away. Its snout, no shorter than a meter, seemed to have endless rows of teeth, all barred against him. Its breath, putrid and vile, stung Rand's sweat-covered eyes even as he felt the boiling degree of its heat.

A moment, only a moment, but they both glared in the anger of the challenge. Slitted eyes versus slitted eyes.

Then, the Dragon crushed Rand in its mighty grip. His collapsing lungs tried to get breath, tried to feel, but he lost the source in that bone shattering clutch.

Rand didn't know what happened but suddenly he was falling. Awareness was killing him, pain was everything. He was hurtling towards a spring! Light! He had to fight! Had to…

_Splash!_

He hit the water. A slight tingle amidst all the pain. Water seeping into his wounds stinging like mad _burned_ his scorched, soaked, and bloodied body.

'Light… I can't die here…' thought his weakened mind. He floundered, heaving himself up with every ounce of power he could muster. His arms were jelly and his legs were no better. Somehow, he managed to bring his weary head above the water and gasp for a magnificent breath.

The Dragon was still there, swooping around like a carrion fowl waiting for its prey to die.

Rand thought he might die. Death was lighter than a feather after all. A comfort. God he hurt so much…

Suddenly, he noticed something, as he pulled himself wearily onto the banks. Time seemed to slow as his thought came to him. Min. An image of her in his mind. Elayne and Aviendha. They were gone!

His mind, no longer felt their presence! They were… they were dead! But that couldn't be! _Couldn't be!_

Rand felt dread well up in him. Dread and apprehension and outright fear. His mind told him there was no way they could be dead. All of them to die at the same time? Logic warred with the fact that he could. Not. Feel. Them!

Fear and depression and grief all welled together in Rand like one massive plague. And… he surrendered…

He could not say what he did. The power felt strange… he wasn't fighting it like he always had. Bud he didn't care. He pulled the weaves faster than ever, his despair fueling his rage. An attack weave like no other. Earth molded around him and emblazoned with red fire hotter than the sun in a normal seeming fireball. He flung it, faster than any he'd ever thrown before. Then a web, woven so carefully, air and water sharp as a blade, sliced through the fireball. Rays of red beams refracted through the spun web weaving out from Rand. Thousands of deep red beams of flame blasting in all directions.

Mirrors of spirit raised, refracting the beams a thousand times. Ten thousand! All flying seemingly at random, all hurtling towards the Dragon, who's eyes had widened in shock.

Even as it flew, the beams followed, Rand raising barriers of spirit to refract the flying beams at every turn. In an instant it seemed, the beams caught the fleeing Dragon, and ran it through. Thousands of molten red spears blasting through the monster. The beast halted in mid-flight, spiraling forward on pure momentum, but Rand did not care. More barriers of spirit reflected the beams and they ran the beast through again, entering at the neck and coming out the head. Entering its back and coming out its hindquarter. Entering and exiting everywhere leaving thousands of holes through the black Dragon's carcass.

It fell, unceremoniously as the beams ran it through reflection after reflection created from Rand's overwhelmed mind. They were dead! The _beast _had killed them! They were dead!

"Die you bastard!" Rand screamed. His voice seemed… strange but he did not care. The Dragon fell and landed in a crumpled heap, a carcass of burning holes and scorched blood.

Pure adrenaline had sustained Rand and now that the monster was dead, it left him, the weaves of spirit and the beams all disappearing in that same moment when the source left him.

"They're… dead… gone… all gone…"

Rand crumpled to the ground as blackness overtook him. A single tear falling down his eyes.

He never noticed that his form had shrunk, his musculature overrun by curves and a new lithe female body. But the Dragon's Magic did.

For a time, all was silent in the valley of Jusenkyo. A light enshrouded the fallen form of the Dragon suddenly. Bits of sparkles and swirling lights glistened as they encased the black Dragon in a holy blanket of still more light. The Succession of Dragons had been decided. To the victor go the spoils.

The holes, thousands of holes healed… closed. The black blood spewing everywhere seeped back into the carcass of the fallen Dragon. Death did not occur in the Succession. It was a thing of life. Not death.

Slowly the Dragon awoke and quickly began to shrink, its form diminishing. The scales shriveled back and became soft skin and flesh. Horns on its forehead became a long billowing white mop of hair. The long snout and rows of razor-sharp teeth dulled and faded, shrinking until a human nose and mouth appeared. Eyes, shrinking but changing not a hair in their draconian nature, moved to fit the newly human face.

Herb, prince of the Musk, emerged with a crooked grin on his face. He hadn't had to throw the fight. The other Dragon had defeated him fairly. He, or more accurately _she_, too, was now encircled in white healing light.

He watched in humor as he saw the girl, the Dragon Reborn as they called _him_, lying in the mud on the other side of the Nyannichuan spring. He let out a laugh as he walked towards the still unconscious girl. She was healed now, and a faint glow of power echoed from her abdomen.

Happiness filled him even more. His Newborn was in there! A grin, even wider than before, split his face as he picked up the unconscious, beautiful girl, glad to find that she was shorter than he when female, and cradled her in his arms.

Full Dragons were such strange creatures. Who would consider the right to bear a Newborn as the 'spoils of victory?

* * *

Min had been groggy when she was waking up. She had been at Shadar Logoth with Rand. With him however she could be. She had lain with him, fallen asleep with him in a vain attempt to protect him from things she could not protect herself from.

She had woken drearily, feeling movement beside her. Rand. A bed. Oh light this was comfortable! She heard the rustle of clothing as Rand dressed himself… vigorously. Strange that. He was usually quiet as a mouse while dressing.

She wobbled and shifted, turning an eye up at the offending man. She loved him but that only went so far when she was trying to sleep!

"Min! I—!"

And then… he died.

Min's eyes snapped open. The bond! The bond was gone! _Gone!_

"No…" She whispered, staring at the spot her beloved had been standing in just moments before.

Then, she let out a howl of grief and anguish that could make the dead weep

* * *

Rand moaned as she slowly came to. She was comfortable, that much was certain. A bed mattress caressed her much like the one from when she had awoken the last time.

Blinking sleep from her eyes she awoke to… wait…

Jerking the blankets off she stared down at the body her soul was encased in and gasped. Where long hard legs had been, now rested pale light smooth skin. Where battle hardened abs and chest had been, now remained a flat stomach and a pair of… of…

A pair of slacks and a shirt of some sort of strange material, softer than any Rand had ever felt caressed her body and covered it. Straining, struggling with the fact that she wasn't quite sure if she was dreaming or not, she reached down for the strange blue material.

Sliding down the strange contraption with an odd 'ziiip' she pulled the skin tight… suit… open to find… two… brea…

Gulping, Rand covered them and looked away. Even _he_ could be off-balanced from something like this. "M-mother's milk in a cup! Wh-what under the light is…?"

Edgily, she looked down towards the area between her legs. These short pieces of hard cloth, exposing far too much leg to _ever_ be appropriate, were covering…

Another tentative reach. Then, she pulled back. Best not to look. Even as she pulled away a shiver slid down her spine.

"_What under the flaming light bloody happened to me!?" _Rand screamed at the top of her lungs and was maddened to find the scream a high pitched squeal. A foolish question. Obviously she'd been turned into a girl. How? Why? Did it matter? She shivered again at the echo's and dead silence greeting her in return.

"Ah, good morning!"

The words were a low and devilish rumble echoing from a man leaning against a narrow doorframe. Rand jerked her attention to the man and glared with an aura of hatred billowing off her to make a stone cower. "Who are you." Rand boomed, and was surprised to find that her own voice was speaking in that same odd cowl.

"Ah… so you do understand… I was worried you wouldn't." The man said. Long white hair with a hung to his back and strange robes billowed about his ethereal form. "I am Herb of the Musk. Pleased to meet you, Dragon Reborn." The man said with a flourishing bow. "Do you like the clothes? I think they… well, _it_, makes you look beautiful. They call it spandex. Amazing invention. Have you ever heard of it?"

Rand growled. She didn't know how she understood the strange drawls and accents and words the man used, or how she knew how to use them herself but at the moment, she didn't care. Glaring with all her might she began an array of curses that would have made any mother weep.

"You! It was bloody flaming _you!_ _DAMN_ You! What under the bloody light did you DO to me!?" She screamed, throwing up the blankets and pulling up the odd zipping device covering her bosom once more and striding towards him with all the effect of a mouse. Shocked to find herself short, _very_ short, Rand glared daggers into the man's smile.

"Now, now, don't go blaming me. It isn't my fault. I was just looking out for myself!" The man said lightly, his slitted eyes flashing green.

Rand grabbed the man's throat, surprised he did not protest and was happy to find that she still had much of her male form's towering strength, even if not the stature to lift the man off the ground. At this he smiled- _smiled! –_and gave a raucous laugh, heightening her anger even more.

"Where are they…" Rand drawled, enunciating every word. The loves of her life were at stake.

"If you mean your family, or whatever, the other world of course… you didn't think them dead, did you? No… I suppose you would've. That world is painfully ignorant." Herb said in a lecturing tone. The smile never left his lips.

Rand couldn't help the sigh of absolute relief even if tinged with significant distrust. Other world? _Other_ world? It didn't matter. All that did was that she had to get back to it.

"Send me back. Send me back, _now_!" Rand demanded, making her voice the same devilish tone that could kill a regular man at hearing too much of its terrible ice.

The man didn't flinch a hair.

"Can't do that, M'lady." He said courteously. As if she wasn't ready to crush the fool's windpipe!

"NOW!" She demanded.

"Do you want do go back and explain to your family, your friends, how you are now a girl and a pregnant one at that?" Herb asked in that same lighthearted tone. "I know _I_ wouldn't."

Rand's eyes widened but she had regained some remnant of the control she'd always had. She was a ruler of the largest and most powerful of nations in the world. She had faced Shadowspawn, the Ever Victorious Army of the Seanchan, and even the Forsaken cowered before her. She did not lose control often and when she did there was a bloody good reason. The sudden loss of the feel of all three of the women she loved was _more_ than enough though.

"I don't care. They… my wife is bonded to me. If I don't feel her that means she doesn't feel me, meaning they think I'm dead! If I'm dead, the world dies with me." Rand said as she loosened the grip on his throat.

"Ah… Saidin and Saidar. Useful little things but dreadfully dangerous. I never used them much myself but every now and then levitating a cup or two has its advantages. Wouldn't you say?"

Rand blinked. Useful… little… things? Saidin and Saidar? No! Never mind. She had more important things to worry about. Even her masculinity came second! Everything came second to them! _Everything!_

Sighing, Rand did something she hated doing with every fiber of her being. "I must go home… please. They'r— _she _is gone! I can't… I…"

The man merely smirked with that same lighthearted grin. "By all means. Last I recall traveling can get you there. I'm not strong enough in either Saidin or Saidar to open one. My talents lie in… other areas.

Rand raised a furtive eyebrow. Either power? She felt the woman's body that she now resided in but did that mean that she couldn't touch Saidin!?

She reached out and found a heavy, clouded black veil hanging like a wall of swaying steel curtains. "No… No no…" She murmured. "Change me back! Change me back, _now!_" She screamed grabbing the man's throat again.

"Ah. Yes… there was why I don't like Saidin and Saidar. Simple dunk in a pool and it's barred. Rough luck, eh? But don't worry though. Feel around. Saidar's there you know. If you learn both… _then_ you'd be a potent enemy."

Suddenly Herb took Rand's arm and twisted her around bending the arm behind her back in a lock that would surely break the appendage, if she struggled. The way he did it, so casually as if swatting a particularly slow fly. She didn't scream or writhe, knowing full well she could end with a broken arm.

"You are very beautiful, my lady." Herb said in a seductive, almost evil tone, reaching a sly hand around her waist and up the strange soft cloth on her body, letting it linger just below her now ample bosom. "It is fortunate for you," He drawled, "That I do not take advantage of those in weakened states… especially the one who will mother my Newborn …"

It was then that full implication of what was being said hit Rand like a brick. "Mo-mothe…" She nearly whimpered, the ice that had permeated her voice before, now long gone.

The grip on her loosened and she stumbled forward, catching herself with her hands on the bed. She turned and glared daggers at the man… no… this _was_ that black Dragon from before. It wasn't dead. Oh light, how in the world could it have survived, _that!?_ Never before had she made a weave so deadly, so powerful. For a moment, she almost trembled, her glare stifling.

With a sudden jerk, Herb turned away from her and seated himself comfortably in a chair nearby the strange door. When he appeared comfortable he looked at her, almost curious in his attention.

She fumed. And then gulped. If she couldn't touch the source and if he were strong enough to maneuver her grip like she was a child…

"Let me tell you a story, Dragon Reborn. Actually, perhaps I might know the name of the mother of my Newborn before that?" He said, making it seem a question when in reality it was a demand. Rand could do nothing else but give it.

"I'm… Rand. Rand al'Thor." She said. It wasn't meek, precisely but… It grated at Rand with all the sound of granite rubbing together.

Herb smiled. "Good. Rand. Thousands of years ago… tens of thousands of years ago, during a time called the 'Dark Days' by some, Dragons were all but extinct, their numbers having dwindled to a mere few hundred. The queen of this era had ordered them all destroyed down to the last Dragon. The elder Dragons were powerful though. Dragons, you see, can feel all types of power. I myself am a Ki Dragon if you will. You I believe would be one of the Saidin Dragons. Well, _the_ Saidin Dragon. We're the last two, now."

"I'm not a Dragon! It's just a title! That's all! I—!"

Herb pulled something out of a sling hanging on his back that Rand had not noticed before. Holding it forward, Rand realized it was a mirror. "Aren't you?" He asked plainly.

Rand did gulp this time. Another world. An era she had never heard of before the age of legends. A… light!

She stepped forward and looked into the hand-held mirror and found her own face. Her eyes too were slitted now as his own were but still they held the vibrant grayish color they had always had. She gaped in astonishment. Her eyes were part of her surprise but, more so was simply… _her_! The girl in the mirror was astonishingly beautiful. While Rand had been male, muscular, handsome with his curly hair and height, _she _was… beautiful. The muscles had faded seemingly though Rand knew there was still plenty of power in her. Full round bosom, narrow face, thin arms and legs. She was… breathtaking. If it hadn't been herself she was looking at Rand knew _he_ would have turned an eye. The last who could make him do that, save for Min, Elayne, and Aviendha of course, was none other than Lanfear herself. Her hair was the same reddish tint it had always been but now it seemed curlier if possible. She _was_ breathtaking! If not quite_ so_ breathtaking as perhaps Lanfear though…

Oddly, Rand felt a bit of… pride? Wash through her. Eugh! It made her shiver. She was a man!

"I… I… How…"

"You see them, your eyes I mean. Who can say how? You could have been born with it inside you… I must say I would like to see you in your new Dragon form. I only attained mine several weeks ago. But on with the story…" Herb said as if stating the obvious.

Rand turned her eyes back towards him, only now realizing that she had been gazing into the mirror. Yes. The story. She _had_ to get home _now!_ Female or no. _Dragon_ or no!

"As I said before, you are a Saidin Dragon but now that you have become a full Dragon by victory in the Succession, you, too can feel all types of power. Save for Saidin of course. Jusenkyo, your curse that is making you female, blocks that nicely. I myself just happen to be lucky enough to have been able to wield Saidin. I too have become female in the same way as you, and during those times am able to wield Saidar. But I'm not strong with either and prefer Ki more than anything. I'm getting sidetracked though."

Rand merely listened impatiently, hoping some bit of useful information would come from this. What was he blathering about? Ki? Bah!

"The ancient Dragons set forth magical rights to make sure that their race did not die. Even so, they had to hide their tracks. Thus was born the Succession. When the Dragon's dwindle to two, which has happened many times in the past I'm afraid, the Succession takes them and pits them in battle. We are the last two Dragons, you and I. The third must have died recently… When the succession takes place, the winner is given the right to bear the line forward. A great honor among Dragons, but to us who were once human and still have the appearance, quite a shame to a man. So I plotted to throw the fight after knocking you into the spring of drowned girl to make sure that _you_ and not me, held the next Newborn." Herb said happily.

Rand seethed. "So that's all this is!? Some old magic meant to keep some beastly race from dying? I don't want it. I'll kill the thing myself! How do I change back?" The irate girl screamed in hatred.

"Are you so cold… that you can kill your own son? Feel him, Rand. Feel your son." Herb said, looking. Book after book after book he had read on the Succession. No Dragon had _ever_ killed the Newborn of the Succession. In history, no Dragon had ever even killed their _own_ Newborn, let alone one wrought from the Succession! Drakes from the Succession were considered nigh on holy! Not once. And stories of more horror than the Nyannichuan had been told in those books.

Rand on the other hand, tried specifically _not_ to do as Herb said. Despite her attempts, she _did_ feel him. Not a normal child. Not a boy or a girl. A Dragon Newborn. A wave of care and joy and love, despite her forcefully willing herself not to care about this beast that she felt within her, rose. She tried desperately to hold on to the righteous anger she had so easily held before. She had been tricked! Transformed magically into a woman and forced to bear a… a… _something _made entirely from magic and she should have justice! But… light the child… So small, yet power radiated there unlike any other.

Her face scrunched in displeasure even as she felt herself falling in love with the small thing. How she could feel it she did not know. But feel it she did, and it enraged her and comforted her at the same time. "Damn you…"

Herb's face broking into a grin yet again. "You don't really hate me, you know. The magic would have pit us one against the other no matter what you or I did. If I had won that battle I'd be like you, stuck as a girl, waiting on the newborn! You can't hate me. Not for that."

'Damn this Dragon!' Rand thought angrily. He was right yet again! He had endangered neither of them. Had known he would come out of this unscathed and used it to his advantage. Rand, on the other hand, had known nothing and had acted accordingly.

"Damn you…" She repeated.

The grin simply grew wider. "Oh I'm sure you'll thank me someday. M'lady." The pause was definite and purposeful causing rand to elicit a disdainful sniff.

"Come with me. You have no way home until you can learn to use Saidar. I know one who can though he is not strong enough in the power to travel either." Herb said simply. "And I would so love to see your new Dragon form, as I said before."

"How do I change back?" Rand asked in a huff of indignant anger. New Dragon form? What? Nonsense.

The obnoxious man smiled. "I doubt it will work during the duration of the Newborn. You'll be a girl for the next four or five months."

The words hit her like a slap in the face. Five months… _five months!_ "Blood and bloody ashes…"

Even as she cursed she felt the newborn. It was small, insignificant. So easy to kill. With Saidin it would have been even easier but even now, a quick dagger in the right spot would do perfectly… Then she surprised herself. She was whimpering! _Whimpering! _With worry! And bloody care! For the Newborn! Oh _light_! A desire to protect stronger than any before had welled… no… had consumed her entire being. She was its defense, its guardian… its mother.

Rand seethed in sudden realization and began stamping her feet on the ground in anger, making sizable cracks in the stone floor panels, Herb smirking at her changing and readable displays of emotion the whole bloody time!

Suddenly, the man stood and strode towards the door without a word. He opened it, the odd handle latch of metal more smooth than steel squeaking as he turned it and stepped out disappearing into what looked like a vast hallway.

A hand popped back into the room and motioned Rand to follow.

Again Rand seethed just out of sheer principal! No one motioned for the 'Dragon Reborn' like some lightskirt! Even if she _was _a girl! But she followed, regardless. What else could she do?

As she walked, she was amazed to find the unique comfort granted by both her new form and the tight-fitting clothes clinging to her beautiful skin. The strange feel of not having a… well… not being a _man_. Didn't bother her quite so much as she had thought it would.

A long corridor greeted her upon exiting the room. She was still adjusting to the strange, yet comfortable clothes, though thought that showing half as much leg as this…suit- that was the only word for it; it was only one piece covering her whole body! -was still too much! It was indecent! At least he didn't even seem to notice. And she'd long since gotten used to being naked around the Maidens of the Spear. This was just a bit of extension on that. She kept telling herself that, even as the phantom hand just below her breast where he had held her like a babe made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

Content in her reasoning, Rand finally managed to stop fidgeting. Turn here, another turn there. All these corridors were exactly the same, each a bit shorter than the last. Long with narrow metal floors and carpets with the same design etched on them lain out across each hall way. Chandeliers hung from an immaculate ceiling while elaborately framed murals and paintings lined the candle lit halls. Doors split off of the corridors into still more corridors and rooms in every direction. The place was obviously a keep or castle of some sort, but no people were seen.

"My people," Herb began, "Died out for the most part long ago. I only remember twelve living Musk. Once we were a great people… now we are naught but ash and ruin. Only three survive now and I am their king, their leader, for what it's worth." Herb had noticed her looking for a trace of life in this dim place and, with Rand finding none, deemed it worthwhile to speak to her.

"So… this Newborn means a lot to you…" Rand replied.

"Yes." Herb said and gave a pause. "Even if I never see the boy… He is as much mine as yours."

Suddenly they entered a vast audience chamber, that seemed to be stripped bare of anything save a stage to the left of where they entered, but Herb did not slow a bit. He strode to the two doors on the right end of the gigantic chamber opposite the stage.

Rand had stopped to marvel. The only thing he knew of that could compare to this monumentous dome was the domes he had seen in Aridhol. In Shadar Logoth, where he had finally cleansed the taint.

"Are you coming? Or are you going to gawk at the alter all day?" Herb asked, standing aside the two doors that looked like they might be able to fit the Dragon through.

The doors flung open suddenly and forcefully with a shuddering clang.

"Come." He said, and stepped out of view.

Rand walked towards the door and suddenly heard a booming and familiar roar. The Dragon! She ran to the door then and looked out to see the great black Dragon once again caressing the skies. Every time its great bat-like wings beat, Rand felt a tremor reverberate through the earth. Unable to marvel before the sight earlier, now all Rand could do was gape in awe.

"Come… You can do this too. Think of the Dragon and take what is yours." It was Herb's voice but it was erupting in her mind like a volcano.

It was with some trepidation that Rand felt herself begin to think of the Dragon. What would she look—!

And that was all it took. Growing and mutating before her very eyes, Rand felt the ground shrink. The doors she had found so huge before became small things. Delicate things that could be toppled with the touch of a claw.

Flesh became hard and broke into thousands of pieces which became still harder, changing color as they did. Scales like that of a snake, yet hard as steel covering her. Her nose and mouth elongated and her teeth multiplied and became jagged. Her breath grew hot and her hands became razor sharp bone and lizard-like flesh that could snap a tree as easily as she could a twig. A tail sprung from her as she grew further, stretching down and back into the great hallway through the huge doors even as white crystalline wings sprouted from her back.

When it was done, Rand knew what she looked like. A White Dragon. Looking across he saw the Black one far in the distance. So far, yet through these eyes he could see it in every detail. It was tiny compared to her. She was a white Dragon. In this form she made the great Black Dragon look like a mouse while she was a dog.

…

Perhaps a cat. He wasn't _that_ much smaller than her, but it was quite obvious who the larger was.

"Come… We seek a man called Happosai. He can teach Saidar better than anyone I have ever met." The voice boomed in her head. She wasn't sure how she knew— when did she ever know how she knew or did things? Even before all this, she hadn't known how she had come up with the weaves of Saidin that had sprung from her mind. Regardless, she knew how to speak back to the other Dragon with her mind and did so.

"A… man?" A man couldn't teach Saidar…

She _felt_ the Black Dragon smirk, and glowered as he evaded the question. "I want to get you home as much as you want too. It's not good for the Newborn for you to be stressed. Now follow me."

It was with a sudden shock that Rand realized that Lews Therin was not there murmuring his madness in the back of her head, and had not been there ever since she'd become female. Turning towards the other Dragon, Rand grinned. This might be better for her than she had thought.

Her own magnificent bat-like wings flapped and pulled her off the ground too as if moving on their own. Instinctively once more, Rand felt herself blast off after the Black Dragon, her own wings making the trees of the surrounding forest sway and quake, dwarfing the black Dragon's own beats.

Truly she was a Dragon. A plus. The taint on Saidin was gone even though she couldn't draw it right now. Another plus! Lews Therin no longer saturated her mind! Everything was going right for the Dragon Reborn for once.

But it couldn't last. Even through the happiness she felt the loss of her Aes Sedai counterparts.

Madness and fear for Min, for Elayne, and Aviendha swept over her even as she felt happiness flowing through her. The black wound in her side, having been there for so long that she could make herself barely notice it, still ached and throbbed. Branded into her forearms, beast or girl, still resided the twin Dragons _he'd_ received in Rhuidean. The Heron's branded into _his _palms oh so long ago, still remained. Even as she flew, she began to reassure herself and bring back her hardness. The entire world depended on her to stop the Dark One at Tarmon Gai'don. And she would do that, Newborn or no. Male or Female, she was the Dragon Reborn. But above all… she would get back to see Elayne, Min, and Aviendha.

She loved them all. How could she do anything less?

Her wings beat a bit harder as she caught up with the other Dragon, mile after endless mile passing beneath their wing beats reverberating the entire countryside.

* * *

Keika thought edgily of Magina. She'd hurt the woman several times and felt kind of bad for it. But then, she didn't care either. The woman was motherly and kind yet… annoying. She simply would not allow her to leave this… amazing place!

When she had awoken, Keika had scanned everything with wide and disbelieving eyes. Blankets, sheets, beds, spoons, napkins, chests, closets, wheels, lamps, pots and pans, and wall hangings had all been scrutinized by her. Nothing had escaped her watchful, curious eye. Well, nothing that the reach of her fear would let her examine at any rate. She had bounded about looking at everything on this level of the "White Tower" as it was called, glee written across her face for the world to see. She was _free!_ Added to that the fact that her mother was most definitely alive, she did not think she had ever felt quite so happy.

Still though, some things scared her. Her first encounter with a window. She remembered looking out, seeing that _enormous_ mountain in the distance and plains as far as her eyes could see scared her so much that she had curled into a tiny ball and whimpered until Magina had come to comfort her.

While she now was allowed to see all these magnificent things, Magina would not allow her to meet anyone! She walked into the hallways and saw a sparse few people- real live _people! _–walking through them, and instantly the elder woman appeared and guided her to another something.

Oh sure, Keika had never actually had the guts to go up and _talk_ to anyone… but she thought she could've… maybe. ..

She thrust her hands into the air with an exasperated sigh and fell back onto the bed in what was almost distress.

"I want to _meet _someone… Mama… I wish you were here. You would show me… you would… You know everything." She sighed despondently, staring up at the honest to god ceiling hanging above her.

She had been here for four or five days. Somewhere around there. She wasn't quite sure and didn't really care. She knew her mother was coming and that was all that really mattered. She'd seemed… so weak… but she wasn't gone. That wasn't possible, even though she hadn't felt her dancing the flames since that first time but that didn't matter either. She was coming and everything would be right when Ranma finally arrived.

Meanwhile she just had to work up the courage to make some actual _use_ of her freedom!

"Dammit!" She exclaimed suddenly. "I'm going to go and talk with someone and that's all there is to it!"

She jumped to her feet and was instantly greeted with that terrifying view again. A tinge of fear fluttered through her stomach but she pushed it down. "It… it's not all that high… the book… yeah… Setuma-papa has been a lot higher! He wasn't sc-scared." She stuttered to herself. Even so, she edged around the window towards the door, looking at it as if it were a rabid dog about to attack her.

"Shit, ass, damn!" She screamed in frustration. Steeling herself, she turned from the window and stalked comically to the door, emulating the look of a board if it had legs.

She opened it and was surprised to not find Magina stationed outside like the usual mother-hawk she acted as. Her rooms were high in the tower, but no so high as some. No one except Magina seemed to know she existed, and since she feared the stairs- stones were supposed to lay straight! Not spiral downward! They had always been straight! –she had never ventured down. Until today. She _would_ go down those stairs! She _would!_

Exiting the room she saw several of the great photographs she had seen a good number of times before. One was of a gigantic Holly Leaf so Magina told her but that didn't interest her much at the moment. Nor did the epic battle portrayed in the next picture. Bloody fiendish monsters being struck down by lighting from the sky and the earth erupting beneath their feet were portrayed within it.

She walked briskly but still with the edge of someone worried those battles would jump out at her. The pictures in the book moved… why couldn't these?

Fortunately those pictures remained frozen as she walked past a painting of a grumbling old fool with a proverb written in the background that she didn't understand.

Walking down the candle lit hallways, happy that it was fire lighting the candles as that she understood well, she came upon the stairs and gulped.

For a very long moment she just stood, watching them. Stone was _supposed_ to be _flat, _dammit! Not drop off and spiral downward!

'Or upward for that matter!' She thought as she glared at the other staircase on her left.

Hesitantly, she grabbed the banister and slowly lifted her foot… gently… gently. Clap.

Her shoe, boot or stocking they called them here but she wasn't certain which, touched the ground and Keika sighed, opening eyes that she didn't know she had closed.

"You are very strange," came a thick, heavy accent from behind her. "…and _very_ beautiful."

Keika froze. A man. An honest to god, man. "L-light… " She whispered as she slowly turned. Broad shoulders and a narrow face on a body that towered over her. Thin with short messy black hair and a narrow face, his eyes somehow reminded her of home, with her mother dancing fire.

"I… I-I I…" She stuttered and realized she'd somehow backed down another step and hairs on the back of her neck twitched.

"Keika? Correct? Magina has told me much about you, my dear. She said you were pretty but she failed to do you justice in her description." The voice said over her stutters. His eyes roamed her body and heat flushed in her cheeks.

"I… w-well… I… Uhmm…" Dread roiled across Keika as her eyes wandered across him. The room itself suddenly seemed to heat up and sweat began to bead on her brow. He was a _handsome_ man. Shit… he was a _real_ man! A live one! Talking to her! _To HER!_

The man walked toward her with the grace akin to that of her mother and his eyes, black pupils staring directly into her terrified, yet strangely excited blue orbs, seemed to pierce her very soul.

"W-wh… who…?" She croaked. Light! She couldn't even speak!

The man grinned. A fine grin at that… In all of Setuma's life she had never seen a man so…

"You are flustered. Perhaps I shall visit you at another time…?" He said as he attempted to move past her toward the downward spiraling stairs.

Her eyes widened. He was leaving!? No!

"NO!" She shouted, suddenly firm. He was real! A person! A man! A… oh… she was feeling strangely lightheaded, and there was some sort of… burning coming from between her legs! _Light!_

His grin widened if that were possible and his gaze never left her eyes. "My name, my dear, is Irathul. Would you care to grace me with your company?" He asked as he gestured to the stairwell.

Frozen in shock, _still_, it took a moment for Keika to snap out of her stupor. When she did, however, she nodded vigorously! "Yes! I-I'd love to!"

He gave an extravagant bow and a flourish of his black cloak and then offered his arm. "Shall we?"

Still too tongue-tied, or perhaps just plain scared, to speak Keika just nodded and placed her arm through his.

They walked down the stairs slowly, him guiding her patiently as she daintily put each foot one more step down, looking at the descending stonework with slowly lessening terror, helped along by his gentle prodding. Keika didn't think she'd ever felt so happy, or so terrified, in her life.

They reached the next level in silence, Keika breathing like she'd run a marathon, him patiently consoling her with gentle prods on her arm and back. Who was this man? Irathul… light, she could gaze in those eyes of fire for ages.

Realizing that she had been staring at him, she suddenly averted her gaze and worked up her first bit of courage. "Ma.. uhm… Magina, told you about me? W-what did she… what did she say?"

The man looked at her curiously for a moment.

"She told me she had met a girl who had been sheltered from the entire world. That she had little knowledge of how to correct your problem. Your fears and your naïve nature. I do though… I am a doctor of sorts… a philosopher. I've had experience with similar forms of solitary confinement and hope to be able to help you." A different grin broke on his face this time and she wasn't sure how to describe it.

Unconsciously, a chill flew through her body, and she was hard pressed to tell whether it was from excitement or genuine fear.

The odd sensation from between her legs, however, intensified.

And she decided she liked it

* * *

The night was cold. Ranma stood, lifting the blankets off of herself to stride over to Machin's bed. The man slept like a rock, now that he was human again. Something which had not been true all those years ago, if her memory served. Then that was around six hundred and twenty years and memory had a problem with deteriorating over that long.

She shuddered. Keika. Her daughter was North. So very far North. Would she ever find her? Tears began to fall down Ranma's cheeks as she despaired of losing yet another loved one for all eternity. Being alone again.

If she lost Keika too she didn't know what she would do. Her eyes roamed over Machin and she began to get an idea though. He'd been with her through everything. Even as a monster wind he'd longed to be with her. To hold her.

And she…

Once upon a time she would have become his. She had met Akane again, but failed once again to protect her. Failed… again. Failed like last time and been returned to Machin's side.

Was this her place? Was fate trying to coerce her to stand next to Machin? She was starting to think so. And… after eighteen years, she hoped Akane would forgive her for entertaining the idea. For knowing that she might… one day…

More tears trailed her cheeks at the thoughts of Akane and she simply let them roll, never a cry or a whimper coming from her.

After a time she stood, wiping her eyes and walked to the hickory wood carved door. There at the foot was a small pouch she instantly recognized as the one she had handed the innkeeper. A message was placed daintily atop it in a scrawling hand barely legible to Ranma.

_M'lady. I am but a humble innkeeper who could never accept such a large amount of coin for a simple night's rest. I have taken two gold crowns and left the rest to you and you fellow. You are far too kind my dear. May the light forever shine upon and protect you. _

_My sincere regards._

_Gram._

Ranma didn't really know how to look at that. She kicked the small bag so it slid into a corner beneath the stool next to the small fireplace opposite Machin's bed, and then exited the room.

She was surprised to find the sounds of low laughter from the common room below and she followed them. They were jovial if nothing else and cheer was most definitely something that attracted her attention.

Some of the men stopped laughing and pointed at her with a smile. She was clean now and bathing had been the most wonderful experience she'd felt since flying, even though the water had been cold. She recalled hot water feeling much better and had wanted to change back since she finally had a chance to do so without Machin seeing, but again, decided against it.

Apparently her cleanliness did not go unnoticed by the men. Though there were many less in the common room than before, almost all of them were giving her that same toothy grin.

She grinned back, in the same way, still trying to play the odd game. What were they getting at anyway? Oh well. Striding toward the bar she met a very large, livery-clad serving woman behind the counter cleaning dishes in a wooden wash tub, soaked towels draped about the side.

"May I help you M'lady?" The woman asked daintily, her black hair bobbing awkwardly as she nodded towards Ranma.

"Uhmm… y-yes." Ranma stuttered. She had wanted to do attempt to do this again for some time but of course, had never been able to. To taste water as it was supposed to be. The water she had drank from the river had been wonderful but she knew it wasn't the best to be drinking.

"What' ya like, miss?" The woman said, in a strange, difficult accent. For a moment Ranma was left confused, trying to puzzle out what it was the woman was saying but she caught on after a few moments.

"Oh.. I… well… I would… like a glass of water… please?" She asked daintily. Water was alright. It didn't make her retch.

The woman smirked. "Ha. Your man do give ya a bit much, ay? Well, o'course. Be right out."

The large woman left, walking through swinging wooden doors into the kitchen from where strange aromas drifted across her nose made her sigh. She was free. Truly, free. The woman returned in an instant practically and a mug of clear liquid was placed deftly in front of her without a word and the woman turned back to washing those dishes.

Suddenly, the stool next to her was occupied by a man in a black coat and cloak with green britches and a strange cap with a feather.

"Hello, my little flower." He said, using a drawl. "I was wonderin' if you'd like to play a game with me n' the lads." He said with a strange gesture towards a table of men situated not far away where more grinning was happening in spades.

Ranma's curiosity was peaked. He'd been so straightforward that she'd somehow lost her nervousness. "What kind of game, sir?" She asked, prompting a _very_ wide, almost sinister looking grin.

She took a gulp of the water and was pleased to find that it tasted amazing. Her stomach felt the strange new flavor as it fell down her throat, and she thought that she knew true bliss. An awed expression crept across her face but was erased at the man's words.

"She's a country lass, boys. Don't know the game I'm talking about!" He said, loudly enough for the table to hear.

"I.. uhm… I'm sorry… yes. I'll play!" She said, spots of color dotting her shame-filled face. Already she was making a fool of herself!

At that he took her by the hand and motioned to three of the men at the table. One of them, a clean shaven man in his mid twenties or so, much like the others, tossed a silver coin to the man beside her.

"Follow me, lass." The smirk never left his face.

She gulped but followed. Light but she hated how naïve she must seem! Up the stairs they went back toward the rooms and forward until they came up to a closed door some ways past her own door.

He took out a key and unlocked the room, seemingly in a hurry for some reason she could not comprehend. Opening the door, he motioned for her to enter, holding it open for her. She gave him a smile and entered, demurely, and he followed after her.

As soon as the door shut she felt a hand encircle her waste and another latch across her right breast. "Wh-what are you… what are you doing?" She asked, panicked slightly. This wasn't any game she knew!

"Playing…! You did say you wanted too." He whispered.

And suddenly it clicked. The grins! The coin! They… they were… lusting! After her! After—!

Disgust welled so strongly in her, mixed with a growing sensation of rage that her face contorted in utter pandemonium. Her body began to heat up, literally, and the hands that had encircled her flinched back and the man banged against the wall as she turned, her hair beginning to float upward.

"You…"

What the man saw was not the eyes of a woman. Where irises had once been, now there was only white in Ranma's eyes as power began to waft about her body. Her mouth curled up in a smirk of her own.

"He heh heh… " She muttered deathly. And then, she began to laugh. A laughter of madness.

White spheres of smoldering light, flames licking the edges, began to appear around the room. Appeared inside trinkets and wall hangings, burning them to cinders and ash. Appeared inside the floor, making holes. First a few, then several, then many, then a multitude, surrounding herself and the man as she laughed at his quivering. Thousands upon thousands of spheres of white fire.

Quickly, the entire world was nothing but him, white burning fire, and the mad girl's laughter.

Slowly cowering backward, devastation burning all around him, he let out a howl as she grabbed him by the throat.

The last thing the man knew was that he was more terrified than he had ever been in his life.

* * *

Wind tickled Ranma's slowly awakening nose. Not an uncommon feeling now. She'd slept outside every night since having been freed of the ways and was more than used to the wind's tickles. Sunlight battered at her dreary morning eyes and she began to flail around in the act of wake-up stretching. Warmth was beneath her though from what she had yet to discern.

A grunt echoed across her ears and she cracked an eye. Machin, lay beneath her still sleeping but appearing to be waking up as well. Both of them were fully clothed, thankfully, and Ranma couldn't help but grin. Machin. Who knew how she'd ended up here but it was definitely a good morning.

As that thought actually registered in her mind she blinked, and shook her head forcefully. She really _was_ starting to like Machin again.

She lifted herself up and turned to look at…

"Oh god…" She murmured.

As far as she could see, in every direction, lay nothing but scorched, blackened earth.

That… and thousands upon thousands of charred skeletons.

"No… No… I couldn't… I couldn't've…!"

Looking at the devastation in terror she looked at her hands.

Holding her head in them, she wept as Machin slowly began to stir.

"I'm a monster…." She moaned, tears streaming through the cracks in her fingers

* * *

End Chapte

* * *

_Author's Notes:_

As a reviewer you look at this piece of Materia-Blade's fanfic and ponder. Then you click back through the previous chapters. Ten thousand. Eleven thousand. Ten thousand. Twelve thousand. Large amounts to be certain but not so large. And then you return to this chapter. Twenty two thousand.

Very curious. You think. Very curious indeed.

Then you grin. And possibly click in the corner to comment on the extra effort this author has put forth? Who knows?

Special thanks to all who review!

Silence. I'm assuming you are on vacation or something. Sent this to ya on that 23rd. And never got a reply or anything. Hope I'm not offending you. My work doesn't feel it's half as good as it should be without your bat to beat it into shape.

Cheers!

And yes. There WILL be a happy ending to all of this.


	7. Insanity Blooms

** The woman cloaked in fire whiter than any that ever existed, her hair burning as a star, smiled down at her child.  
The child was calling, but was ignorant of what she called for.  
The woman reached out her hand and touched her child's fingers.  
The impure were burned and the evil torched, not to ash, but merely dust and bone.  
The pure felt no touch, but that of sleep as her gift was bestowed upon them.  
The smile of the woman, whose body had no flesh and whose skin was white flames, widened.  
The woman knew her child could not hear the words she so desperately wished to tell.  
The child was strong, though.  
The woman felt grief for her child, but knew she would complete the task required of her.  
The woman would be the helping hand, as was done for her, so long ago.**

**The Mother of All.  
The Golden Lady.**

_**'May the darkness be the oil burned to light the skies of all worlds.'  
'May you teach them all to glow.'**_

* * *

"_No one really knows what happened that day. Everyone set out on the Hall of Silence, as Senshi Saturn calls it. Well… I didn't go of course… I was little more than eleven years old, but I was there. I saw her, the Mother, from my vantage point in one of the towers of Telilro. She flew. Over and above us. She, who I would worship as the Messiah reborn into the flesh once more.  
I believe The Lamb of God was our peace. He was the love of the Lord, come to teach us, and guides us into his arms. That said, I believe She Who Dances the Flames, was his wrath. His hatred for the damned. That… and his sorrow, for the children he had forever lost. Even the twisted ones. This I believe with all my heart.  
Many of her followers did not return, she herself being the most regrettable. I know no more than you of what happened that day. Was she afraid, knowing the fate of Earth rested on her shoulders? Did she pray as our Messiah did in Gethsemane? I don't know… but I pray she has found happiness, and that she rests in the arms of the Creator. Of God."_

_Pope Ronald Salt_

_August 19__th,_

_2087AD (0089 AM)_

_The Vatican,_

_Rome_

* * *

**Chapter Six: Insanity Blooms**

* * *

Ranma walked, still north bound. Hoping… hoping, ever hoping. If they saw a town they avoided it like plague. If they saw people they avoided them. If they saw any life or any sign of life, they avoided it.

They were monsters. Both of them knew that now.

A flaring heat echoed around the stone tablet in Ranma's deft hands. It glowed a dull red and the heat pulsing from Ranma's fingertips made it flare slightly every time she blasted another thrum of power through it.

"Should be done in about a week. Then you can go into towns. It'll be safe. It… It'll be safe won't it?" She asked, pleadingly.

Machin didn't know how to reply. He had managed to avoid draining. He hadn't felt the need to do so nearly so much anymore, now that he had been restored to his normal form. But he still felt the dry rumblings of something akin to a stomach within him that would ache for more soul when its currently sated hunger began to grow once more.

He was still very much a monster. Very much the soul stealer of the ways. A terror to himself now more than ever. But it _was _fading.

"Thank you, Ranma. I… Can never thank you enough." He murmured to her back.

A particularly bright pulse flared from in front of her and he fell into step beside the lengthy-haired red-head.

"You've done more than enough by just being here, Machin." She said the words but didn't feel them.

She was sick. She was sick, and demented, in more ways than even being a killer pertained to. Guilt and stupidity and anger all battled within her as she thought about the guilty pleasure she had taken from the touch of his lips.

Wait… they had kissed?

_You loved his touch. Don't you remember? In the Ways, when you reunited after so many years?_

Oh, she wished she _could_ remember what it had been like!

_Yes… And the morning… do you remember the skeletons? Don't they look funny? They all seem like they are smiling, but they frightened you. You're such a weak little thing._

They had been terrifying. She'd recalled her reaction. She'd screamed for hours, staring at the after-effects of losing her control. God… so many… how under the light was she still sane?!

_He took you. Dandled you on his knee and cared for you. Such a good man, he is. Perfect for you. Don't you remember? You're sane because of him._

But… that didn't make any sense. That was sickening. No man had ever touched her. She'd _know!_

She jerked in horror, as she realized she'd been hearing voices again; she knew without a doubt that she would fall prey to their persuasive words again, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She shook her head, in an effort to ignore them, glad for the sparse moment of clarity she'd been granted, as the voices dimmed to incomprehensible murmurs in the back of her head. She wanted to cry. Wanted to scream. She wanted to be able to think! She wanted Keika! She wanted Akane. She… wanted Machin, too.

Burn Her! He _was _a good man! But it was all her fault. Light, _Why_ hadn't she just told him up front that she wasn't a…

Girl.

Above the clutter four words rose that froze her heart.

_Because you want him._

For a moment she couldn't breathe. Calmly, she let herself down. They were voices! Figments of her imagination! Nothing more…

The resolve she gained from telling herself that… if it really _was _just her telling herself that, gave her the energy to pointedly ignore the words. Well… she _had_ told him. But, it didn't seem that way. Not to mention how she had, at some point, begun going out of her way to _avoid_ hot water.

"Oh light…" She thought, as she struck a realization. He probably thought she was even more insane because of that! Just another of the new quirks she'd developed since she'd left him.

She barked a bitter laugh. Even when she felt perfectly sane he probably thought otherwise… light… why were things going so badly?

Sure, he had his own bouts with insanity, but his didn't involve voices like hers did. No. His moments of insanity were flashbacks… visions of people he'd killed, while desperately trying to stop himself. Last time _he'd_ been the more insane one. Now, she felt despair circling her every time she tried to think. He probably thought she was a complete lunatic now.

And, of course, there was no chance with Akane… she was… was dead. Even after so long, that thought still panged at her, making her throat well in guilt whenever something, anything, reminded her of the blue haired girl she had yearned for so long ago. Yes, she was free, and she could feel Keika a bit more by the day, though the girl hadn't returned the call yet, but that didn't mean a thing when it meant being this much closer to where Akane was… where Akane should have been, and still being no where near her.

"It's all my fault." She thought, as they took flight once more, into the burning eastern sun.

_Yes. It is._

"Hmph… finally we agree on something." Ranma cursed at the voices.

The further to the north they traveled, the more the sun began to burn them. The biting chill of late winter was growing ever colder the further they went north, and somehow the sun seemed to amplify that with icy rays of sparse heat that made the biting chill seem all the more freezing, while simultaneously burning their pale skin with a dim tan. Though she could tell that winter itself was ebbing, much more slowly due to their north-bound travel, and storms seemed to flirt with the path they took, hindering their flight more often then not, she wished it would happen faster. Ranma knew she was powerful, but she had great fear of nature, with which she'd had so little contact.

Truly, she feared almost anything that wasn't stone. Stone was dependable and had been for more than two hundred generations. But the thing she feared the most was the sky. It's changing, the lights that dotted it at night that her time-distorted memories referred to as stars made her wary. She didn't remember what they really were. Few people from her mirror looked at them, and the Great Freeze had perverted the Earth's atmosphere, obscuring all but the very brightest stars from view.

The endless blue of a shiny day and the dark, dank clouds that hung over during the mighty storms. The great funnels of twisting wind that seemed to attack the unsuspecting land at random beneath them. Wind, her only respite now that she now that she was used to it, she'd found, was an absolute delight. At least, until the sky became covered with deep storm clouds decorated with furious lightning bolts, each of which leaving any storm she'd seen in her book, behind in terms of sheer power.

These were not the storms of her world. No. These frightening, monolithic rains were as if the very creator himself were trying to purge the land of impurities with his righteous fury. Or perhaps the Dark One. This almost seemed to be a cursed land, and that meant all the worse for Keika.

Ranma feared flying through them. Light, she feared _walking_ through them! Going over them worked, but they stretched into the sky higher then she'd ever believed possible. The air was so cold up there that she had to struggle to keep her eyes from squeezing shut.

And Machin still had trouble flying so hard and so high as well. Despite his legions of power and ki, she was still the stronger. She had to get to her daughter but there was no way she could leave Machin behind. Despite his weakness, he persevered as best he could.

For her.

If Ranma was wary of nature, Machin was downright terrified of it. His only excursions into the world since his imprisonment had been through Ranma's book. But still, he towered over the storms with her when she could see plainly that he'd rather hide beneath a bed of pebbles than brave the freezing wind that lay above the storm clouds.

Fortunately, today was not one of those stormy days, and they were using that to their advantage. Flying like arrows, they covered miles and miles over the hours, wind and sunlight tanning them each in their own different style of burn.

Several weeks had past since they had left the charred remains of the city they had first entered. The scorched skeletal frames of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people Ranma had never known still marred her waking and sleeping vision from time to time, but she was coming to terms with what she had become while imprisoned. She was realizing now, that she would have to avoid the world in its entirety if she wanted peace of her own.

But she could not, she would not, go into that peace without Keika.

Not ever. Until she had her daughter… her wall… the reason she lived… the voices would plague her. She knew they would, until the destroyed all that was left of her mind.

Ranma knew that, from the outside, she was losing what of herself she'd regained with Keika in the dark. Before that city had been destroyed, she'd been alright. She'd been able to curb the voices her twenty thousand years of loneliness had spawned. Now, though, nightmares crept up on her every night.

The cold dead faces of Gram, the innkeeper and Lanya haunted her, even though she'd never actually seen them. The face melted into dust, and the eyes melted away to water leaving little more then mud and those terrifying black skeletons. The old woman who had given her clothes. The children who had played in the streets when she first entered the town. She didn't know if anyone had somehow escaped what she had done. She didn't see any way they possibly could have.

It was their voices she heard in her mind. Theirs. Blademaster Aron spoke to her every now and again, her first kill from so long ago, that accident still blaring in her memory. Tio, Aron's descendent, and the arrow he had tried to kill her with…

Hundreds of nameless voices, and visions of still more hundreds of voiceless faces, some cursing her for laying her wrath upon them, some attempting to cheer her. It didn't matter what they did. Every one of them was a sign of madness.

For a time, she'd been able to hold on. For the first week, she woke each morning with eyes bloodshot from her nightmares. They weren't bloodshot anymore. The voices taught her how to make the faces of the dead go away. Quell the unending guilt and the nightmares.

_Smile. Laugh until you burst._

And she listened.

For a time after that she could catch herself. Snap back to normal when she realized how far she was falling. But even that was beginning to fade.

Oh, light, she needed her daughter! She'd never known how much. Perhaps seeing all those corpses had made her crack, but now the voices were becoming worse.

They were getting closer to Keika, much closer with each passing day, but waiting seemed an eternity. All Ranma wanted was to hold her daughter. Squeeze her, and never let go again. She'd go back to the lonely darkness that had been her home for so, so long, if it was to be with her Keika.

_Isn't it just funny?_

She giggled. Madly. She could hardly even tell anymore, but at least she still could. She just couldn't stop it. They were right! It… it just was so funny! All this time she'd been trying to escape and now, she'd go back in an instant if it meant never losing Keika again!

Her giggle broke into a loud and ominous laughter that put Machin on edge as they flew. She dived and swooped like a falcon, bathing in the black humor surrounding her, while Machin watched from a close hundred meters behind.

"Ranma, are you okay?" He called, warily, when Ranma's mad laughter refused to ebb.

The girl's laughing became deafening as she swooped back to lie upon the air beside him. "I can't...! Machin! Isn't it funny? Don't you see? Hah!" She asked, expecting him to somehow know the instigator of the humor that only she could feel.

Machin felt little laughter. Pity aplenty, but laughter…?

Her madness had been worsening, whilst he felt himself becoming less and less the soul sucker of the ways by the day. It was as if she had taken his madness into herself. He almost thought that he would be able to brave entry into a town as Ranma wished him to do, in her saner moments. But she…

Ranma's sanity. Her happiness. Her joy. These were the only things he wanted, his true desires. The only thing he could want more was the woman herself.

She'd risked everything, returned to the ways, and saved his life. Twice now she had been his salvation and hope. Her Akane was finally gone forever, and if Keika was anything at all like her, then he knew he could love her. Hoped he could.

Could he?

No… the truth was he had no idea. He'd hardly spoken to another save for Ranma. He didn't know. But he would try his hardest. He did know that he loved Ranma. How could he not? She had been his life for more _generations_ then most people had _years! _

So they flew, ever north, towards a faint presence that only Ranma could feel. Even that was questionable. The redhead was drowning in a sea of self hatred, guilt, and fear of committing still more heinous crimes by accident when she appeared sane, and laughing about the humor of it all the next moment.

Could he really believe that she even had a daughter?

No. No she did. She couldn't have made this all up.

But how could that daughter have escaped the Ways when he, as a human, had been locked there for eons?

It didn't matter. He would devote the rest of his life to Ranma, and her daughter. No matter what.

With a sudden jolt, the endless, maddening laughter finally ended and Ranma came back to herself; Machin could see the emotions playing across her face. The guilt she felt for knowing that she was losing what little sanity she'd had might as well have been written across her forehead. The faces of the dead were taunting her.

Her eyes welled with tears that she refused to let fall. Bloody Ashes, but he knew what she was going through. He remembered his first massacre.

She turned to him and gave that small, guilty look, eyes watering as if a tsunami were building just beneath her blue orbs which told him she'd been able to curb the voices. For at least a little while. Guilt laced through her tongue, she weakly voiced. "I'm sorry, Machin."

He could scarcely hear her over the wind.

He turned a false smile her way, lacing it with as much positive emotion as he could muster. He wasn't sure which was worse: Ranma blissfully insane, or the times when she found herself fully normal. Bags! She was falling apart inside and there wasn't a _damn_ thing he could do about it! Nothing except lay a comforting arm around her and hope for the best. "Don't be, Ranma. Don't be. It'll be alright. We'll get you to her. Me and you. I promise."

_Him and you. Don't you see? Him and you! He took you! He _wants_ you! You want him! Take him! Make him yours! Like you did with the skeletons!_

One tear slid down her eyelid moments before her face broke into a maddening grin once again. Her eyes fell to half lidded giggles. Was she truly so far gone already? "Me and you. Who would've thought it, Machin? I… Me and you. Me and you. We could be Keika's mom and dad! Only… I get to be the dad, okay? We can go to the Springs of Sorrow! Oh, I can't wait to see her! For you to meet her! She's getting closer Machin! I know she's there! I know it…"

The girl zoomed away, up ahead again, dancing with the sky, and with her sanity.

Machin Shin's resolve firmed. The rest of his life.

No matter what.

* * *

Keika Saotome was in a strange sort of unusual heaven, ever since she'd met this person, this man by the name of Irathul. Strange name… really strange, but not so different when compared to some of the names she'd heard. Her mother's endless stories about she and Machin Shin came to mind.

A shiver crawled up her spine at that name. She would never feel so terrified as she had that day. But it was alright. Her mother was coming. She'd felt her. And she was getting closer!

Even so, she found herself forgetting about her mother quite often, as Irathul took her to more and more unusual places. He'd started with the stairs. Holding her as she stepped, each one taking a century, her fear was so great. He'd just smile, and lean her down another small step.

To now, two weeks later.

"H-Hello." She attempted to say. She wasn't sure if the sound actually came out or if she simply croaked, and they got the message but the cook of this unusual place smiled back in greeting.

She'd met hundreds of people. Thousands perhaps to her mind, though in reality it was only perhaps the upwards of forty. Their names began to run together after a time, but each new person she met made her a little braver. A little bit more like them. A little bit less frightened of talking to them.

It was still strange using only half of your known language, and she'd often find people confused when she attempted to speak with them, as words from her mother's language weren't known here. But, for the most part, she'd found which words belonged here and which did not. This place's words often had a significant hiss, while her mother's language stressed vowels over anything else.

"Irathul… I see you've made yourself quite a catch! Haha! Ever since you walked in here, I knew you'd find a beautiful one to dandle on your knee and take you away from me!" Grinned the haggardly elder lady Keika had been attempting to greet.

The woman glanced over her and Keika couldn't help but feel like as if it were _she_ being examined through a book with moving video attached to it as she had always done.

"And my, was I right. But you are a _beautiful_ young woman. May an old kitchen hand know the name of My Lady?" The old woman asked, delightedly. While her eyes were decidedly fixed on the two of them, the woman's hands never stopped moving. A gigantic butcher's knife was sheering through some sort of meat without even seeing where she was cutting with expert ease.

Keika tried to reply, but her eyes were drawn, almost magically to the bloody hands of the old lady and the shimmering, blood-covered metallic silver of the blade.

"Oh… I'm so sorry, my dear. I'm probably terrifying you." She laid the metal blade down and wiped it clean with a towel reddened from endless use in the same manner.

Keika's eyes widened. "Oh, no! I… I wanted… well…" Her eyes turned to Irathul's in an effort to make her desire known. He gave his usual smile, correctly guessing her desire, and she beamed back. "I… was wondering if I could try that?"

The old lady blinked. "You… try this?" She asked. By her eyes, Keika thought the woman might have swallowed a bat! It was quite funny, and she would have giggled if she didn't know the woman would probably take offence to it.

It was just so… interesting!

"Y-yes… If I could…?"

The woman seemed to recover from her surprised state quickly enough, and her eyes settled to a wry grin. "A woman who likes her hands dirty. I like this one, Irathul. But wearing that? Heaven's no! That dress is worth years of pay working the pigs!"

Irathul gave a grin and interrupted. "The lady is… new in the world. She was kept imprisoned by her evil father for much of her life till she was rescued not long ago. I am providing her clothing; it is no matter."

The old woman gave a cooing sigh in abject horror, and relented easily. "Oh you poor dear! Well… you've become quite the lucky woman now at least, and despite your man's fineries, I'll not have anyone slicing meat in a dress worth more than my house! I've got a spare onass or two in the back, if you would like to change."

At first, Keika didn't understand the problem. It took a moment for her to realize that the woman was speaking about money. Looking over herself she realized that the dress she was wearing would have been quite expensive even in Setuma's world, even though it was a bit… barbaric by comparison. She puzzled over the other word too. Onass? It must be some type of clothing, Keika surmised.

She turned to look at Irathul who nodded his approval, and then, was led away by the elderly woman, still speaking to her as if she were her own daughter. It made her smile. This old woman reminded her of her mother. Though the wrinkles in her skin were a bit scary…

Morridin watched them walk away, his cheerful personality draining as they left. Unwitting fool of a woman, but damn her for being such a good informant. The old cod heard gossip from Illian weeks before it reached even Caemlyn. She was a good old woman to have around, if only so he could know what the common people in more distant lands were thinking. She was especially useful for keeping the war between the Domani and the Seanchan in the far west going strong, now that Graendal was dead and therefore, unable to continue.

His mind quickly drifted back to the unsolvable mystery that was the red-haired girl named Keika. She was shy to the point of unbelievable; only outspoken in fact when he brought a topic of her mother to light.

And yet, she held within her the ability to wield more of the Source than he'd ever imagined. Triple Mesaana's own potential, the chosen had admitted. That was at least equal with himself in the female half. Together… with this… girl… he could rid himself of the plague that was Nyra'nael.

After that it would be a simple thing to kill her. She was so ignorant of the world; she would never suspect. Yes. Best to kill her. Someone with so much power could be herself another candidate for Nae Blis.

He did not need another competitor, and he knew the game better than any. Playing his cards right, the girl wouldn't even know he was one of the Great Lord's followers, let alone a Chosen.

Yes. The plan was perfect.

The redhead's smile appeared in his mind, followed by the look of betrayal her eyes would hold as he killed her.

To his great surprise, the glee from killing her that he had expected did not come. The thrill of watching her plead with him, her breath stolen from her by threads of air, was not present.

It… puzzled him. But no matter. He could kill her without the thrill of it easily enough. Killing didn't always have to be an enjoyable experience.

Morridin, strongest of the Chosen, would be Nae Blis. No matter what. But to do that, he had to make this girl _his_. And she was well on the way.

At that thought, he did feel thrilled.

Keika returned in short time wearing the strange woolen cloth dress that seemed little more than a large apron. Somehow the girl looked even more beautiful. Dressed in plain clothes, Morridin was reminded of Lanfear, in a perfectly opposite tandem.

Where Lanfear was beauty unmatched, draped in silken finery and jeweled opals, Keika was a simple beauty capable of matching the unmatched. Innocent and pure as the creator himself it seemed.

Utterly revolting.

With Lanfear, if you kissed her it would be best to expect to lose your tongue. Or at least she once had been as intimidating as that. Lanfear… his puppet Cyndane now, held little beauty or intimidation in comparison to the Daughter of the Night. Short, though still young seeming, Cyndane would be as beautiful as Lanfear had been when she grew, silver hair glistening, but her body was no older than late adolescence at best now. Her strength in the power reflected that.

Keika was the same age most likely, but upon her own ageing, and perhaps if that vile innocence were taken from her, she would be a beautiful candidate for a Cour'souvra. Yes… her mind in a bottle would be perfect, if he could bring the Great Lord to permit it.

She would be a perfect replacement for Moghedien. That had severely disturbed him, when her Cour'souvra shrank into dust. It was impossible that she escaped. No one could escape once mind trapped. But still, mind traps didn't disintegrate. They exploded.

If she _had_ escaped, he would have a powerful enemy. Moghedien and her skill in Tel'Aran'Rhiod was not someone to be trifled with, despite her cowardice. Perhaps even, _because_ of her cowardice. The woman didn't fight unless she _knew_ she had already won. If cornered in the dream, Morridin had little doubt as to who would be the victor. The spider was master of the realm of the dream. He would _not _let himself be caught there.

Keika smiled up at him and he returned it, dotingly, all the while inwardly wishing he had been a different part of this plan. Mesaana was no fool either, it seemed. No matter. She would serve him as they all did in the end. Extracting this little alliance with the witch had been agonizing, but in the end, he had gotten the better bargain.

At first, being near Keika and her insufferable innocence had disgusted Morridin, but as with all things, he grew accustomed to her. He was Death. There was nothing he could not overcome, and he could feel the girl's attachment to him growing.

She had a strange sort of resistance to compulsion that astounded him. She simply was unaffected by the weaves. They fell off her as if Saidin didn't even exist when he tried to compel her to him. Mesaana had not tried to use the True Source on the girl, but he had with, astoundingly, even less results.

Incredible. The power of the Great Lord himself, simply dying away from her. He never would have believed it possible! But, the Great Lord had his own plans for all things. If he did not wish his power to touch this child, then it would not. He had other methods.

At first, he and Mesaana had wished to simply compel her until adoring the two of them was so natural she did it without the compulsion. It was generally a fool proof method of training dogs like these weaklings commonly called Aes Sedai, but it had not worked on Keika. No… she was a being of power.

Fortunately she seemed to be susceptible to certain forms of… physical manipulation. That much was obvious. He sent a lace of air, melded with the True Power to be certain none of the witches detected him with their annoying excuses for Ter'angreal, between the girl's legs, and was not surprised to see her jolt and glance at him with a blush.

For a time more he watched her cut slabs of meat, her hands becoming bloodier by the second, with the joy of a small child beaming across her face. Without warning, though, he found himself holding her as she jumped at him, and he toppled over onto the wooden floor.

"The light blind me, girl! What are you doing!?" He exclaimed, with a small amount of anger, yet equally forgiving, falling perfectly into his character. Irathul was not an evil man. And so Morridin was not.

For now…

The girl shyly looked up at him, wincing at the shout. "I… I'm sorry. It… scared me." She glanced over her shoulder at the cat staring down at them both, and instantly turned her face back into his coat, burying it to protect herself. Whimpering!

_Whimpering!_

Irathul and Morridin both smiled at this. How utterly, irritatingly yet strange and alluring this girl could be. There were children who were not afraid of cats the first time they saw them, and yet here this girl seemed terrified. He let his hand fall down on her head, patting it reassuringly as he sat up. Stupid animal, scaring her like that. He was tempted to burn it till it was edible.

"It is alright. It will not hurt you. These rotten smelling animals are around to hunt for rats, not beautiful women such as yourself." Irathul replied benevolently.

On cue, the girl set about sniffing. Then her nose scrunched in putrid disgust, and she looked up at him, her hands lingering around his neck in a loving embrace. "You're right. The fuckers smell terrible."

Yet another puzzling thing about this girl. Those strange words she'd use every now and again. They were not the Old Tongue. Of that he was certain… and yet, nor were they from this age.

Still… the word, laced with malice, intrigued him. "Yes… fuckers…" He replied, his confusion seeping into his words. He couldn't help it. He _liked _the word.

That strange word rolling off his tongue only caused Keika's face to brim into a smile at him again. Inwardly, she was laughing. She'd managed to confuse him! It made her want to dance!

Dance with him.

God, but he was handsome! Damn! She'd seen handsome men, though Setuma had usually been jealous of them whenever witnessing them in the book. They'd made her swoon, watching the book in boredom for hours while her mother watched over her shoulder.

He was _better_ then any she'd ever seen in the book. Different… his eyes had a strange sort of crease that many of the people from Japan didn't have, and his skin was lighter. Even so, she wanted him. She didn't know exactly what it was she wanted, but she knew that every time he came to see her… to take her down into the various rooms of Tar Valon, she felt that much warmer inside. A strange fluttering between her legs often accompanied him and she began to assume this was normal.

'Momma… I want you to meet him. Please… get here soon.' She thought, as she turned to look at the strange beast.

The truth was she _was_ terrified of the small animal, though she didn't know why. It was a higher level of fear then she was accustomed to, now that she was used to seeing real things. Real people and places, but there was an almost obvious second agenda on her running to Irathul.

His arms… felt so good…

"So… you're a cat. You look a lot more friendly and little, in the book." She murmured, incorporating Japanese and this world's languages together. This cat was uncouth; calico and feral, it seemed to radiate its purpose as if were holding a sign above it. Rat killer.

Morridin sniffed. He was not fond of cats. Hated them. Foul beasts, killing off perfectly good spies. They made him as sick as they made her, it seemed.

The cat hissed and turned away, walking back towards a different side of the small wooden room they stood within.

It was only then, it seemed, that Keika realized she was lying in his arms. She turned to stare up at him and her eyes connected with his.

Morridin grimaced, trying to hold his composure. It wouldn't do to add lust into this. That wasn't how you made someone yours, the light way. At least he didn't think it was. She didn't even seem to realize how dreadfully attractive those blood-covered hands were! Literally.

"I... oh… I'm… I'm sorry. I'll just…" She began, stuttering again. Damn it all! She'd known him for weeks and still she stuttered around him like one of those pathetic school girls that had always irritated her in the book!

Now she understood why they always acted as they did, at least. She'd never been able to understand why they acted so strangely, but she'd imagined.

Now she knew.

The things she knew now… even after only fourteen rises and fallings of the sun and moon, she knew she would never grow tired of life like this. Never.

She'd never take for granted how amazing this place was. This world. She never wanted to leave. Light… she didn't know what she'd do if she had to go back… back where the only thing there was, was stone, flat and barren, and the book. Where the sun didn't come out in the day and the stars didn't cover the entire sky at night.

Where storms and lighting didn't ravage the earth while she lay shivering in terror, even as she tried to quell the pure excitement she felt at finally experiencing what she'd only witnessed through second hand accounts.

Where snow covered the ground in layer after layer of pure white beauty.

Where… where her… friend Irathul… and Magina… and everyone else she had met already, many of whose names she'd already forgotten despite her strongest efforts.

She never wanted to leave this… never…

All along her mother had been right. This place was real. And it was unbelievable. All along…

Her mother…

Light, she hoped her mother was okay. If there was anything… anything she would go back to the dark place she once called home for… it was her mother.

"No… Keika. You've done nothing wrong. Nothing to apologize for." Irathul said, interrupting her. "I quite like this."

Keika blinked. Her legs spread out over him, and arms wrapped around him, she met his eyes once more. A strange firmness swelled between her legs and she blushed profusely. She _knew_ what that was. Men had them, her mother had told her, but she never would, because she was not a man.

Odd…

Didn't matter though. She rubbed herself along it and found the sensation to be fantastic, her eyes rolling slightly. Irathul's eyes widened in surprise, making Keika feel even more successful. He liked it! She hoped he did. She definitely did.

Unfortunately their short tryst was brought to an abrupt close by the old woman whose name, she'd learned, was Ninece.

"I would appreciate it," Ninece said with a dark chuckling humor about her, "If the Lord Irathul and his Lady would so kindly not break an old woman's heart by committing such heinous affairs in her own house!"

Keika simply turned up to the old woman blinking rapidly. Had she done something wrong? She hoped not. She hadn't understood the old woman's jokes, hinting that she would like to be Irathul's woman despite and even _because_ of her age, as Keika had little experience with the elderly.

Irathul had though, and he gave Ninece a happy smirk. "My lady, I do fear that you are a bit young for me." Turning back to Keika, his eyes locking and holding her own with grips stronger than her mother's fists, Irathul finished making her heart swell, even though she didn't understand what he was talking about. "This one though, is quite elderly enough for an old man such as I."

Ninece never knew how much truth there was in Irathul's words, as she laughed. Keika didn't understand in the least.

But she was happy.

* * *

Elayne Trakand had no energy to attempt taking the throne. No care for things such as this any longer. No. She wanted to die. Wanted to be together with Rand in the blissful end of all things.

Tears leaked down her eyes endlessly and no matter what she did, she couldn't stop them. Weeks now it had been since Rand's presence in her mind had vanished without a trace. Damn her stubbornness! Light… if she'd only known…

Despite her unending anguish, she did her best to keep herself alive. So short a time, had they been bonded. So short had she felt the overwhelming love he felt towards her burning in its silent embrace.

Now it was gone, wrenched forever from her. Damn Min! She was with him! It was her fault! If only it had been _her_ with Rand, but _no!_ She'd been stubborn!

"I have to stay in _Caemlyn!" _She screamed at herself, mocking the words she herself had uttered, before Rand was gone. "Have to become, bloody Queen! Damn Andor!"

She found herself damning many things of late. Damn Min. Damn Nynaeve. Damn Andor. Damn Birgitte for being so bloody protective and damn _herself_ for needing it!

Light, but she was tired. The morning sickness did not help, nor did the fact that no one in the entire castle was willing to let her have a light-blinded cup of tea! Damn these fake herbs!

But the truth was, she probably wouldn't have drank the tea had it been offered to her. What did she have left of Rand? Nothing, save for the child within her. Nothing, but that, and the lily he'd left her, preserved forever by her Saidar weaves. Moghedien's teaching from when they had captured the Forsaken, but she thanked the light for it now.

Poor Aviendha had even less. And Min… Light, to be right next to him when he died? She must be in agony…

But Elayne no longer had the strength to care. She didn't think she could. Her own grief was so great that the rest of the world could burn for all she cared.

It _would_ burn. The Dragon Reborn was dead.

"Elayne… Elayne I know you're in here." Birgitte sighed. It was obvious her warder was trying desperately to keep the depression of her Aes Sedai out of her own system, and it was also obvious that she was failing miserably.

Birgitte Trahelion was Elayne's warder, pulled from the World of the Dream. Another 'gift' of Moghedien during one of their earlier battles. During their battle in Tel'Aran'Rhiod, Moghedien had torn Birgitte into the living world, possibly separating her forever from her tie to the Horn of Valere, which called forth the dead heroes of the past. She was one of those heroes.

The Legendary Birgitte Silverbow, greatest archer to ever live. It was said that she had never missed.

Now she might as well be a baby sitter, for all Elayne could do about it. How could she possibly make herself get up, day in and day out, knowing that every day was another day without him in it?

It was during these thoughts that Elayne suddenly found herself lying on the floor, dazed from an uncanny slap from her warder.

Her face stinging, Elayne glared up at her warder from the floor and found anger incarnate staring down at her. She'd felt her Warder's anger, through the bond, but had paid it no mind.

She did now.

"What is the meaning of—!"

"Get up!" Birgitte exclaimed.

Elayne was almost shocked into obedience by the forcefulness of the words. Birgitte was her warder! She couldn't talk to her like this! But it seemed Birgitte had never really _obeyed_ her when she was actually supposed to.

"You are the bloody _Queen_ of Andor! Are you going to mope like some depressed child for the rest of your life? Beyond that, you are Aes Sedai! Have some self respect!" The enraged woman screamed.

Elayne was beyond shocked. "How _dare_ you! You don't have the slightest clue! The slightest idea what it is that I—!"

"Don't I, Elayne? Mother's milk! Did you think my lamenting Gaidal was a ruse? And trust me, I've loved him far longer then you've felt for your precious _Rand_. You've heard Min's prophecies! Rand is _not dead! _Unless you're implying Tarmon Gaidon has already come and gone right under our noses?" Birgitte interrupted harshly.

Three weeks now Elayne Trakand, Daughter-heir and soon-to-be-named Queen of Caemlyn and Andor, had been an absolute wreck. Her life, it seemed was ended. Her second warder bond, the one she held with Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, had been broken. To the best of her knowledge, he was dead, and the world would weep for his loss when the Dark One stretched forth his hand and the Dragon Reborn wasn't there to stand against him.

And there was nothing she could do. She couldn't leave Andor to find him. Couldn't put down the mantle that she had come so close to picking up.

"Don't you understand!? Nothing shy of _death_ could break the Warder bond! Noth—!"

Again, her face was slapped leaving a crimson handprint across her other cheek and sending her barreling to the floor.

Birgitte was incensed beyond reason. How many times had Elayne and Nynaeve done the impossible, eh? They'd Healed a gentled man, and made him able to touch the One Power again. Something that hadn't been possible in the Age of Legends! Traveling, something lost _since_ then! So many other impossibilities they had uncovered and _now_ Elayne remembers the Aes Sedai, 'It cannot be done,' clause that seemed to permeate them all.

Birgitte was not very fond of many Aes Sedai. Old windbags with all the intelligence in the world and not one ounce of wisdom. But Elayne was one she was _very_ fond of. The woman had saved her life, and also counseled her in much the same way she was doing right now, when she herself had been spiraling in despair due to her very real fear of never again being with Gaidal, her own lover.

Though perhaps Elayne had done it without the slapping… Ah well. She was more of a physical person anyway.

"Come. Rest. You have a meeting with Egwene tonight, don't you? I'm going too. I want to see Lelind again, and you had best get yourself together. You are _stronger_ than this, Elayne!" The warder exclaimed, trying to convince her charge that the world was not over.

Even if Rand was dead, perhaps he had already done what was needed. Perhaps he had already held back the Dark One.

Even if he hadn't, and was dead, and the world doomed, laying here wallowing in regret would never help Elayne. As the commander of her army, at least until Matrim Cauthon arrived, and as Elayne's warder, she couldn't allow it.

The blonde haired woman gazed up at Birgitte, and nodded, though her eyes had a far-away look about them. She rose, meekly nodding along as Birgitte began pushing her to the hall.

Night had come upon them but that meant little for the queen. Or even a Daughter-Heir who was a mere two houses from becoming queen. The staunch opposition of Lady Arymilla Marne, the least suitable person of _all _of the eighteen houses to ever vie for Queen, had irritated her to no end before Rand had died.

'Disappeared.' She told herself. 'He can't have died. B-Birgitte is right… and I'm being a bloody woolhead.'

Not as if she hadn't told herself these words before, but with each new try she felt a little bit better. A little more sure. Perhaps… perhaps he had engaged one of the Forsaken, and had been imprisoned behind a barrier blocking him from her mind.

For three weeks? Light… Any logic at all told her that he was as dead as possible but, if she dwelt on that, her depression would only reach new heights. She had to keep on hoping. Keep hoping that… somehow… he was still alive.

Now though, Arymilla, still outside Caemlyn with an army large enough to pound the city to dust, were it not for the endless number of mercenaries she'd had to hire to defend her walls.

She hated that, but there was nothing she could do. Without them, Arymilla would crush her and take the city by force. As now, the moving army of Borderlanders through Andor and the mercenaries were the only things keeping the woman at bay.

Arymilla was an idiot. Plain and simple. She would never, _could never_, have the throne of Andor. Andor would fall within months with a fool like _that_ woman at its head.

She put on the mask of indifference that she had adapted well after Rand's dea… disappearance, and was both saddened and pleased to meet a grim faced Reene Harfor. Her first maid and, unknown to all but she, Birgitte, and Master Halwin Norry, her personal spy.

"Bad news, Elayne." She murmured as she fell into step with her, Birgitte leading them both to the conference room.

"I'm overjoyed." Elayne said sardonically. So far, she'd been able to keep herself from openly weeping in front of the entire city, but she felt the time was not far off. It had taken Siuan _years_ to get over the loss of their warders.

And she was told that the woman still cried at night.

That in itself made her want to weep, knowing that years from now she would still feel the hole within her that he'd replaced for so short a time.

She steeled herself. 'There I go again. He's not dead!'

None in Caemlyn but Birgitte knew that she had even _known_ the Dragon Reborn, let alone bonded him as her Warder. Of course no one knew he had died.

And she wouldn't be letting that secret out. No matter how much she just wanted to throw herself off the balcony just outside the windowed door to the conference room she now resided within.

"What news?" She asked as soon as the doors were closed.

Mistress Harfor sighed dismally. "Found three more. Carvi Auson, a servant in the ladies quarters and Master Simion Elks, a cook, are taking coin from Arymilla. Pity too. Master Simion made some of the best pastries I've ever tasted."

"And the third?" Elayne asked, making her voice stone. How it was that she was able to keep from showing emotion when out of her bedchambers she didn't know, but for some reason, it was easier to push the grief away when someone who knew nothing of her plight was around.

Maybe that was the key. Keep people around her all the time, until she forgot. Forgot the hole within her.

The woman seemed startled by the harsh tones. It wasn't as if they were anything new. Elayne had been using them for the past three weeks, but Mistress Harfor was used to a kinder Elayne. A more… happy… Daughter-Heir. Elayne no longer had the stomach for feigning cheer. Cold indifference made a much better blanket for covering misery.

And the harder she looked to Caemlyn, the better. A queen who could handle the pressures of Tarmon Gaidon to come was what was needed. Though they all may burn, they would burn _knowing_ that they had the best possible chance to get through this!

Burn _her_ if they did not.

"T-the third is… well… just a suspicion really. I have no actual proof but I… suspect Captain Mellar." The first maid said, worriedly.

"What do you suspect him of?" She asked, pointedly. This would be bad no matter how she looked at it. There was no way Arymilla could have come up with such an elaborate plan to get anyone close to her.

If Mellar was suspect he could be from perhaps one of the other houses… perhaps… or worse.

"I believe he is one of our Darkfriends." Mistress Harfor said, curtly, though her tone hushed almost instantaneously.

Elayne raised an eyebrow. _That_ would be the 'worse' she'd been suspecting. Doilin Mellar, the current captain of her bodyguard, skirt-chaser though he may be, had saved her life from an assassination attempt not long ago.

This didn't surprise her in the least, though. It was almost a perfect plot to get someone into her good graces.

It would cause problems though. She had allowed the public to believe that Doilin Mellar was the father of her unborn children. Better that… _far_ better that, then for anyone to believe they were the children of the Dragon Reborn.

No… this wouldn't do at all. No matter how this panned out, if it became public knowledge that her bastard children were fathered by a Darkfriend… well… that would likely _still _be better than the Dragon Reborn's, but the children would still be targets.

Then again, they would be targets no matter what she did.

"Suspicions… name them." She demanded. She didn't have time to mince words. A plan was forming in her mind.

"I have had a man follow him. It seems, between taverns and inn-skipping, our _esteemed_ captain makes secretive visits to a small house in outer Caemlyn. He always leaves with quite more coin then he came. I don't know what he does though, and the house has no windows."

Elayne raised the other eyebrow; steep accusations for a small offence. "That's not nearly enough to accuse him of being a Darkfriend. He could be a simple spy or even a thief, selling his wins. There is more?"

"Y-yes… This house. I had it watched for a few days. Several women entered there, who fits the descriptions of Falion Sedai and Ispan Sedai, Elayne."

Elayne's eyes widened first in surprise. Then anger. A malicious and almost joyous anger. Finally… something to vent on. "Tell me, Mistress Harfor? How is this… bad news? They are Falion _Bhoda_ and Ispan _Shefar_. Black Ajah. They will never have the honor of being called _Aes Sedai_ again." Elayne snapped. God did that one little bit of temper feel good!

"I… I'm sorry, Lady Elayne." The woman replied candidly.

Elayne was instantly irritated but decided not to correct the woman. She didn't like being called lady and the like by those she was close to, but it seemed apparent that Mistress Harfor had caught her bad mood.

"Make absolutely certain it is them. If it _is_ those bloody rats then we will dispose of them before they even know what hit them." The bloodthirsty tone she seemed to be exuding irritated Birgitte and she felt that irritation and silent fear through the bond. "That is, only if capture is impossible, which it likely will be." Elayne finished.

Silence reigned across the room for a moment, as Elayne stared out the window plans concocting in her brilliant political mind. She would sway herself to become queen and then she would bring war to the Darkness. If she had to, she would lead Tarmon Gaidon in the Dragon's stead.

Standing on the slopes of Shayol Ghul, she would lead Andor and Andor would lead the rest of the world into the blight and strike down Ba'alzamon himself, and if not, die trying along with all that they had. After all, there was no worse fate then the one she was already suffering. This was no longer about the good of Andor. No. It was about revenge. And she would have it.

Suddenly, she noticed a small red flicker, high in the sky outside the window.

Her curiosity peaked, she looked harder, drawing the eyes of the others to follow it.

"What… what is that?" She asked, rhetorically.

Whatever the small speck was it was moving closer.

"It… it looks like a person!" Birgitte exclaimed, her unbelievable eyesight catching the figure before Elayne's own.

Closer the speck grew until it was obvious that it was a beaming red mop of hair attached to the body of a person.

A person who was…flying!

Without warning, the woman was there hovering just outside the magnificent window, staring down at her.

"_Get back!"_ Elayne reacted instantly, throwing up a barrier around the window forcefully barricading the glass from breaking with air.

She felt her weaves burst simultaneously with the exploding of the glass window as the red-haired being floated calmly into the room, staring at her with white pupil-less eyes.

Elayne was too terrified to even move. Somehow she had fallen onto her back, against the far wall in the room. Birgitte and Mistress Harfor were nowhere in sight. One of the forsaken? It had to be! Elayne was one of the most powerful Aes Sedai alive! No one but the forsaken could possibly tear her barrier to shreds so easily!

"Wh-who are you!?" She exclaimed. Not waiting for the answer, she gathered a ball of condensed flames faster then she had ever done, and strong enough to destroy half of her castle; she hurled the ball like a hammer at the redhead, and dived even further away to avoid the explosion.

That… never happened. She gaped up and saw the woman, hovering two feet off the floor, casually holding the gigantic ball of burning flames.

The woman… cackled. "I'm sorry, little one. I don't like being tickled." The red-head's face scrunched in humor at her own joke, while blood drained from Elayne's as the ball of fire dissipated completely.

She stared at the red-headed woman and flame seemed to spring up around her, burning white and glowing about the edge of her body, making her seem somehow… holy. The woman stared down at her, stared through her, and Elayne felt as if her very soul were splayed before this woman.

Unbelievable fear swelled within her but she stared into the white eyes of her captor with defiance.

"I won't die!" She screamed, hatefully, anger brimming through her. She'd just lost the love of her life, but she would not lose her own life. Not to this nameless specter. Not to this forsaken!

The woman… smiled. Not a hateful smile. It was pity falling across that eyeless face. A hand caressed Elayne's cheek almost kindly, or it would have been were its touch not colder than any hand Elayne had ever felt. Ice blazed through her and she felt like she was being read like a book.

The woman leaned in close, her smile never leaving. Where was Birgitte? Couldn't she shoot this thing? Elayne grasped for Saidar but it was not there! It was not there!

"_No, you won't die."_ Whispered the woman into her ear as she leaned in.

True terror was burning in her now, but something else was too. She could sense Saidar. Something was happening to her. It was swelling… peeling… aching within her! She reached but she could not touch it! Light she wanted it!

"Wh-what are you?" Elayne begged almost deliriously. Twin streams rolled down her cheeks but she barely felt them. She _wanted _to touch the source! Saidar… what was this… was she being… stilled? Forever removed from the power? Light… her life would truly be over.

She arched her back, but whether it was pain or pleasure she felt she couldn't tell.

Then, words echoed in her ears. Words that would be forever scarred across her soul, louder than an avalanche. She had never heard anyone speak with such power. Not even Rand.

"_**You will burn…"**_

And all was white.

* * *

Ranma veered heavily to the right as she flew over and above the most magnificent city that she had ever seen. Far below her lay thousands upon thousands of tiny people, buildings, small structures of wood and thatched rooftops housed hundreds of animals and people. Men danced about in the streets, drunken with glee. Pompous ladies road about the city in carriages.

The roads were packed to the brim with people and donkeys and wagons of endless shapes and sizes. Teams of oxen carted multitudes of supplies and interesting things in the back of them.

Inns, noticeable by the stables and large number of patrons brought in by each both outside and inside through the windows, were personified by loud boisterous music. Jugglers and Gleemen with cloaks of many colors. Sleight of hand magic tricks in the streets performed for a copper or silver piece.

But none of that held a candle to what lay further into the city. Ranma couldn't help but stare in mute awe at the enormous towers and castles, behind the giant walls surrounding a vast stone interior, all dotting the way up the road leading into the grandiose main city, to end at the largest and most prominent tower, far in the distance.

Gardens were decorated to perfection, each one greater than the last; they held even more color then the Gleemens' cloaks, if that were possible. Smaller castles and grandiose stables. Horses carrying armored men and even some women dotted all about this place.

Atop the walls surrounding these huge monstrosities were the walls. Hundreds of soldiers lined the walls dressed in either the Red Lion that seemed to be the norm, or black cloaks. It seemed, overall, that these two groups held a certain animosity towards each other, but Ranma was so far away that she couldn't even tell.

Her mouth gaping open in utter awe at the magnificence of it all, she finally turned her eyes to the most incredible thing she'd ever seen. Stone slabs larger than ten score men each stacked by the thousands into the sky, flying above even their current height, well above the vision of the current populace far below. They reminded her of the towers of Fal Dara all those years ago, but if the architecture in Fal Dara were alive, it would weep with envy at these unbelievable structures.

"Ranma! Look!" Machin called out in wonder.

The wall on the other side of this city seemed to be under attack! Looking beyond the tower for the first time Ranma was left even more astonished. Across a vast plain, beyond the surrounding city that was layered outside of the stone walls, was an encampment. Thousands of tents and campfires stretched on for miles beyond her vision, where still thousands more people meandered about.

Staring about down at all the people, she saw only a few. A precious few. But within them burned lights, like miniature bonfires within each of them. Some of these few had raging torrents of their own light. Some only a trickle. Most had none at all. The women, their faces ageless and wracked with endless wisdom held within them a blue flame, while the men, burning with rage and strength, held a red.

Tiny flames. She could snuff them with a touch. A flick! "Your flames are so small… would you like to see real fires burn? Little things… so small…! I'll make you all burn true!"

She held her fingers out, staring down at the largest flame she could see, within the gigantic tower that was obviously the center of power. It was a blue flame.

Ranma giggled madly. She was… _perfect! _Keika would love it! "You're so little! Would you like to be a flame for my Keika? I'll take you to her… little thing… precious thing…"

Machin was too far to hear, but as he laid an eye to everything in wonder, he kept his other trained on Ranma. He flew to her, feeling the strain of staying airborne for so long.

"Ranma! Come see! Let's go in to see the city!" He exclaimed excitedly. Maybe _this_ could make things right again… How could it not?

"Machin. Do you see their flames? So small! Precious children. Precious flames… they've never been danced before." Ranma whispered, staring down into the city below, seeing things only she could see… hearing what only she could hear.

Machin was taken aback. What… could she mean by…?

Suddenly her face brimmed into a wide grin. "The lights! They're all so beautiful!" She exclaimed. "But there are so few… I'll make them all burn true! I can't leave! Not till a flame burns in every heart! Blue or red! It doesn't matter! I'll light them all!"

Machin gasped. "No! No Ranma! You can't—!"

A smile of mad joy. She was gone, disappeared before his very eyes.

It made Machin almost quiver as he snapped his vision towards the city to see her form, barely a tiny red speck in the distance, hurtling through the city, towards the enormous stone towers. How powerful was she, truly? Had he never known? Had he _ever_ seen the true extent of her power?

He didn't think he had.

Ranma flew! God how she loved to fly! This place was beautiful! The joy she felt within the city. There was sadness and grief and worry, and even despair but above all was the endless emotion of joy for simply being alive!

They bubbled within Ranma like a torrent. So many people. So many hollow souls without a fire burning within them! How had she never felt them before now? Did Keika have a fire like this?

She _had _to know!

But first… first…

She hovered in front of the window which held the largest blue flame. Instantly, she felt that flame surge up around the window. Shock entered the woman's features but that didn't matter. Ranma entered, the glass and fire ripping apart at her will, and she stared down at the beautiful woman, hair yellow as the sun.

"W-who are you?" The woman exclaimed. Instantly, the blonde woman cast her small blue flame at Ranma.

Ranma snatched the ball of fire out of the air and held it aloft, a joyous smile across her face. The ball of fire was larger than her own body… but so small. There was no power in this fire. Nothing dangerous at all…

She giggled. "I'm sorry, little one. I don't like being tickled."

She didn't know what she was doing. How she was doing it, but somehow she knew. She touched the ball of flames writhing before her and it withered and unraveled like a mesh of threads falling apart before her eyes.

Ranma's eyes met the blonde woman's. She felt her… she drowned in her soul. The woman had just lost a loved one. She was with child. She was to be Queen of this city and this country. She was so small. A bonfire compared to the others, those who had not a touch of the fires that she could see within them all, but still she held nothing. These poor stunted people.

Ranma grasped the woman's cheek and was surprised when utter hatred beamed through her.

"I won't die!" She screamed.

Ranma smiled. Poor thing… she thought she was in danger.

"_No, you won't die."_ Ranma whispered into the woman's ear as she leaned in. She grasped the fire surrounding the woman's soul. Touched it. Melded with it. Pushed herself into it. She would make this woman a fire that could burn as she was _meant _to!

"Wh-what are you?" The blonde begged. Tears were pouring from her eyes. The poor thing was terrified. No matter. She would learn.

"_**You will burn…"**_

And all was white.

* * *

Rand al'Thor was growing tired of flying. This ocean was endless, but Herb constantly assured him that this was the way to go. She didn't know how long she had been flying but it seemed an eternity.

"We will meet him today." The smaller dragon had said to him, using the dragon tongue. It had taken Rand quite some time to even realize she was speaking in a different language to talk to Herb, but sooner or later it became apparent to her that she didn't have words for certain things. And words that she'd never had before, now held definition.

Those words, being the first Herb had used since the sun had risen earlier that morning, were all it took to make Rand's spirits soar.

Beating her wings a little bit harder to get ahead of the other dragon, and spiraling once or twice hang-gliding on a particularly easy wind current, Rand couldn't help but bathe in the sweet joy of this place.

A place where no Dragon Reborn had ever existed. A place where, for just a little while, she could be free.

The sickness that had been growing ever stronger in her homeworld… or perhaps in her male form had all but disappeared. There was no sickening feeling. No bile rising in her throat. No pain.

Well. That wasn't entirely true either. The brand marks burned forever into her palms and arms, marking her truly as the Dragon Reborn, had never stopped their dull ache, but now that the true pain from Saidin's taint was gone, the unending sickness from the wound forever burned into her side had eased. She could feel pain now.

As a human at least.

Her dragon form was utterly impervious to pain. She and Herb had dueled as they'd flown once. The heat from the Black Dragon's fiery breath was as a candle held aloft. The old burns and scars from battle and war did not even seem to exist. The brandings were mosquito bites and her side, where both Padan Fain's dagger and Ba'alzamon's wrath had both touched him, was merely a dull ache.

Oh yes. The Dragon now truly road upon the winds of time.

But the one thing that she did feel. The one thing that did not change no matter which form she held was the child within her. A son. A male dragon. He would be a red dragon. And he would be a human. Aggressive and stronger than even she, though smaller and more lithe. He would likely be stronger in Saidin and strongest above all with fire.

So strange to know so much about her child before it was even born. The little thing had a conscious will already. Herb had told her what he had researched of dragons. Apparently the thing would be fully grown in no more than two months. As a dragon, she could breathe the egg into being with her fire. Three months later he would hatch.

That truly disturbed Rand but there was little he could do about it. It was much better than the alternative of waiting nine months and birthing the human child. The utter fear she felt for her loved ones would not permit it. Nor would her pride for that matter.

The thing already kicked and beat at her from within when she became human, and in her dragon form, rumbled, breathing its own solid egg into existence.

That, she'd known instinctively; how, she didn't want to know.

More than anything though, she wanted to return to her world. She was the Dragon Reborn. Her loved ones were there. Her family. Elayne. Min. Aviendha.

Mat and Perrin. Her father, Tam, whom she hadn't seen for so long.

She had to get home, as fast as she could.

And today she would meet the person who could give her that power.

Several times she'd felt Saidar. She remembered what it was like to channel the unending wave of calmness that was the female half of the source. To utterly surrender, in order to control. It was so strange. Saidin was completely different. Rage and Hate and Fire. An endless battle, while Saidar was a sea of calmness that could carry you away forever if you even tried to struggle.

But she had to understand it. That was the _only _way for her to get home, and she would do so, if it was the _last_ thing she did.

She highly doubted that it would be.

"Hah hah! We've found our target my friend. Look and see!" Herb exclaimed happily, though it was somewhat strained. It appeared he, too, was tired.

Rand followed the line created by one pointed black claw and found a small speck in the distance, resting atop the endless ocean. She sped up, and slowly, the object came into view. It confused him beyond comprehension. It was a ship… and it was moving… but there were no sails. How could a ship move without sails? Even he knew that it was not possible… but this ship seemed to be moving freely.

He watched the people begin to panic. Of course that was to be expected. They were the last two dragons, both in recently acquired forms. It was unlikely that anyone had seen monstrous beings such as they.

The people were scrambling about on board staring up at them and pointing in shock as they made an arrow towards the ship, and something even more impressive reached Rand. This vessel was… _enormous_. He had never seen a water going ship so big. Even the Sea Folk's massive ships, sails flying what seemed miles into the sky, could not match the sheer size of this hulking thing. It was as if a small flat island were puttering across the sea.

"I assume they will be terrified. Might be prudent to become human before we land." Herb spoke to him, hissing and cowling.

Rand merely nodded, hiding the irritation hidden within this response. With Saidin it would have been a simple thing to create a platform of air and float herself down to the deck of this colossal ship. But no! Couldn't do that, could she!? Bloody Ashes!

Sighing abysmally she let herself become human once more, bracing herself for the pain of her wounds as her endless white scales faded to become sensitive skin.

Herb too shrunk to become human once more, and, falling, she felt him grasp her in his arms.

Why couldn't they just land the normal way? She could deal with terrifying a few people! She always did anyway! She was the Dragon Reborn after all.

Somehow, Herb fell, story after endless story, to land with little more than a small clap on the deck full of shocked seafarers and passengers.

Rand didn't understand any of what was being said but the message was clear enough. Their stares and meaningless words said quite plainly, "What under the light are you!?"

"I seek the one called Happosai." Herb shouted angrily, his voice barely a third as commanding as Rand knew hers could be when she was male. She didn't understand his words but she heard the name. That was all she needed.

"Hmph!? Oh! Herbie-chan!" Came a loud and unbearably cute voice as a very, very small old gnome bounded across the deck to land directly on Herb's head. "How kind of you to visit an old man! What's it been, Herb? A year? Two now? You didn't even say hello to me when you were playing with my student!" The old man yelled, somehow crouching over to stare Herb straight in the eyes from atop his head.

"Get off, my head, you cretin." Herb said calmly, but Rand felt the visible wave of power blast forth from her… she supposed she could call him a friend.

"Ah… but you have come with a present for me? Who is this beautiful lady?" The old man chipped excitedly, staring down at Rand, who was still cradled in Herb's arms.

Rand would have none of that. Leering at an attractive woman was universal. Rand was the Dragon Reborn.

Faster than her own eyes could see, her hand clasped around the old man's throat pulling him from his precarious position atop her… friend's… head.

"Avert your eyes, old man." She said lowly, as she stood from Herb's arms. . Not half as powerful as she would have liked but the old man got the message, even though it was obvious he didn't understand the words.

It irritated her beyond reason. Her words had _killed_ men before! This was humiliating!

The old man was somehow out of her grip without effort, and on the ground, his back turned from the others.

"Herb, you always do go for the crazy ones. First the monkey girl, then Ranma and now this? You need to set your sights away from Jusenkyo, I think." The old man croaked in his strange, froglike voice.

Herb grinned at that. "No… this one needed it. Otherwise, I think I'd be in _his_ position right now."

Rand didn't understand the words but when the old goat barked a laugh, she knew that she would be angry if she did.

"So, I know that it's obviously not pleasure you sought me out for. What do you need? Surely you aren't going with us to help the Americans now are you?" Happosai asked, his unending cheerfulness making Rand want to vomit. How had she struck no fear in this man?

"Him." Herb gestured to Rand. "He is from… the other side. He must learn Saidar to return."

"Hmm… why should I teach this woman Saidar? I vaguely remember her choking me!" The old man retorted angrily, staring at Rand, who glared down.

Rand did not like this man. She didn't know why, but she already knew that this Happosai would be, at the very least, as much of a pain to her as Cadsuane was.

Without warning Rand felt her head impaled by a small spike of some sort right on the middle of the top of her head. Bending over, the spike bounded off her causing her to fall flat on her face.

Looking up, she glared hatefully, and found yet another old…thing, this one _balancing _on a cane as if it were a leg.

'What under the light _are_ these circus animals?' Rand thought to herself, glaring at the gnomes.

"Great grandmother, what happen? Where big scaly lizard go?" Came the cheerful voice of a woman. Rand turned, and was instantly greeted with the sight of the only woman he'd ever seen that he could compare to Lanfear.

Dressed like the easiest lightskirt he had ever seen, stood a girl with purple hair- _purple hair!- _staring at her and Herb. More of the strange fabric from this place circled the barest minimum of skin on her, while a top of the same strange material exposed more cleavage then he would have ever deemed acceptable for a lady. In her hands were two laughable looking maces that seemed more jokes then actual weaponry.

But atop that all of this was the fact that Rand could _feel_ Saidar, in all three of these people. How Happosai, a man, could control the female half of the source, she did not know, but surely, he could.

It took a moment for her to realize she was actually gaping at the woman, before she shut her mouth, and found that the old man was fixedly staring at her.

She stood, and gave one more glare at the old woman who had pogoed off her head, to finally fix her own gaze on the man.

He put his hand to his chin, inspecting her as if trying to decide her worthiness. If she could _only_ touch Saidin, then she would make this old fool respect her.

Other people were watching the spectacle in edgy fear. They'd seen these two beings, dragons, become human before their very eyes. It was likely that most had never seen anything like that before. But there were two others who were only staring in mild curiosity. A beautiful woman with shining brown hair, cut like that of a man's and another woman with a… with a… spatula the size of a broadsword strapped to her back.

Rand suddenly began to ponder the sanity of these people. For a long while she'd thought she had been insane, but s_he _didn't go around jumping on people's heads!

"Interesting…" The old woman quipped. "She is with child. Is it yours Herb?"

Herb stared the old woman down, anger appearing for the first time on his face. "I didn't expect _you_ to be here. The Joketsuzoku are still my enemies, old woman."

Cologne grinned. She'd been afraid of Herb before. Saidar was alive within her now. He could not defeat them all. "Haw… the circumstances have changed, sonny. You are not so strong as you once were. And you have baggage you can't possibly protect from us." She said with a quick glance at Rand. "Answer the question."

Herb seemed edgy, staring at the white haired woman. Light, but Rand wished she could understand!

"It is." Herb uttered.

The old man suddenly burst into a raucous laughter, rolling over onto his small back and holding his stomach.

Cologne, too, smiled. "I will be happy to inform the other Elders that the Musk seemed to be recovering. And of our alliance." She said suggestively. It was no suggestion though. With Rand and his son, he could never defeat Cologne.

Herb knew he had no choice. He could not let his son be brought to harm. He hadn't expected the old bat to be here. Happosai usually avoided Cologne like plague. Apparently _much_ had changed.

"Fine." He murmured, disdainfully.

"Ano… what is going on?" The purple haired woman questioned, staring back and forth between the laughing man and the old woman. Suddenly, she gasped. "Aiyah! You is Herb of the Musk! You is one what lock Ranma in cursed form!"

'Ranma?' Rand thought idly, grasping at straws of the conversation. That was the second time he'd heard that name from these people. It was a name he _knew,_ though. Where had he heard it before…?

"That's all been done with! Look," Herb burst out suddenly. "Rand is very important in the other world, Happosai. She is the Dragon Reborn. You know of what I speak."

Instantly the old man sobered. His eyes locked with Herb's in intense fury. "Th-the… The Dragon Reborn…! D-Did you say…?"

Herb nodded.

The old man turned to stare at Rand, shock clearly burning across his face. Rand smirked evilly. That was _much _better.

"Th-the Dragon Reborn…" He murmured in awe. He stared across her once again. His eyes locking on the twin dragons branded into her arms.

"Is… is he _that_ important?" Herb asked, surprised. He had never seen Happosai act this way before. He'd known Rand was important but Happosai was acting like a man meeting his king for the first time.

Approaching the girl Happosai reached up to her and she knelt down in front of him. He took her arm and stared at the dragons branded there more closely. Then he looked in her palms and saw the Heron's burned into them and shuddered.

Turning back to Herb said pointedly. "Boy… This girl is the sign of the end of all that is. The only thing that would terrify me more is the Lady Who Dances the Flames. The girl must return home. As soon as possible."

Herb's eyes suddenly snapped to Rand. "He says… you are a sign of the end of everything. What does he mean? What… are you? I've never seen Happosai act like this before."

Rand sighed. Apparently, Happosai _knew_ how important she was. "Will you teach me?" She asked him, staring into his huge eyes.

Happosai was silent. And then, to her incredible surprise, said in her own language. "I will teach you, boy. I'm sorry… I shudder to think what will happen if you are not there when Shai'tan breaks free of his prison. I had no idea Tarmon Gai'don was so close…"

Rand let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. For a moment she gasped at the fact that this man had spoken the Dark One's name and was not writhing in pain. But perhaps Ba'alzamon held less sway here. Surprise also filtered into her mind that this man somehow knew her language but it was no matter. What was important was that she would soon be going home. She would soon feel Saidin again.

She would soon feel within her mind those she loved again.

"Thank you."

* * *

Lilen smiled. Freedom. Finally, after all this time, she'd been given her freedom.

She stood facing the world. The sea affront her and thousands of small islands behind her, standing at the edge of the land. The last of the Windbiter's fingers. Some called it the edge of the world. She knew it wasn't; she knew the world had no 'edge,' but there was nowhere that felt closer. Ships couldn't sail here. Men could not reach this place without the power. None had been able to do so in thousands of years, not since the Age of Legends.

Not since she had been betrayed.

Anger filled her at the thought of returning to the queen. She had been betrayed in the worst way. Her planet, her home, sealed in this pocket of death and destruction.

It wasn't worth it. She'd _volunteered_ for this. Light. They'd known what they would be putting her through. What would happen to her. They'd known! And still they had allowed her to…

Lilen let herself sigh. Thinking like this would do no good. She knelt to the ground, and touched the earth that was her beloved home.

Once she ruled over all of this. Once she was not the coward she was today. Once… But those memories were so old. The planet refused to speak with her. Or perhaps it couldn't speak with her. Its burden was so much stronger. Its life, weak. Holding the Dark One himself imprisoned for so long… how could she still feel loyalty to one who would condemn her to this?

She kissed the rough rocks and listened to the waves crash against the stony shore miles below her. "What is your name…? Please. I must know… I must help you."

She didn't know how but she could now feel the pain of the planet that was hers. Feel the _infestation_ residing within her. Which _had_ resided in her. Now it was only the lingering effects that remained.

"How could you do this, my queen? How could you be so cruel? Can you not hear her cry, White Queen? Can you not hear her… hear me suffering?" She begged, but she knew her queen couldn't hear.

Her queen was probably thousands of years dead by now. Even with their incredible lifespans, they were not immortal. She had been. For so long…

But she knew, if she tried hard enough, she could get through to her queen, even in death. The only thing she needed, she had to have, was her planet's name.

Now she had remembered much of her past. Her anger. Her grief. Hundreds of years she had withstood the venomous call of the Dark One. Somehow along the way, she had fallen.

But her planet never had. While she had been sickened, and destroyed from the inside for so many years, the one who gave her power from the beginning. Her friend and mentor for more ages of the world then should have been possible had never given in or forgotten.

And now that the Dark One had been taken from the bowels of Shayol Ghul, the Planet had sought her out.

Now guilt was burned into her soul. She'd been corrupted utterly. How many lives had she ended? How much wrath had she incurred? And all along… once she had ruled all of this land. "Light…I'm sorry. How can I make it up to you? Please… help me."

"Moghedien." Came a word she had never wanted to hear again, from a person she would prefer never to see again. "I love the new look. You are quite beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen you so young, but I'd recognize you anywhere."

"Cyndane. Or should I say, Lanfear?" Lilen replied, somberly. The _last _thing she wanted to do was to mince words with the newest incarnation of the most evil woman she had ever met.

She turned and saw the young girl with shining silver hair. She radiated anger and jealousy. Hatred even. But it was obvious why the woman was here.

"How did you do it?" Lanfear hissed. "How did you escape the mindtrap? None have ever escaped the Cour'souvra. But somehow you did. I must know."

Lilen almost smiled. "I am the spider, Lanfear. Didn't you know?"

"Don't toy with me, Moghedien. You know I can kill you." The young woman snapped.

Lilen's eyes blazed. "I'm _terrified._" She mocked hatefully. "The little slave has a bit of power, she thinks! Did _she_ escape a mind trap? No!"

Lanfear embraced the source, the True Source, to Lilen's amazement, the _saa _flashing through her eyes. She filled herself with more of the power then Lilen could ever touch. Saidar mixing together with that vileness that made her want to shiver.

"You think I have no power? I'll wipe you out of existence like the bug you are!" The girl screamed.

Lilen felt not an ounce a fear. If Lanfear were here to kill her, she would not have used words. It made her sick to know that Lanfear knew her favorite place on this small world. That Lanfear, the most evil, the most beautiful woman to have ever been born, had been one she had opened her heart to, if only to ease the burden. Their mutual imprisonment had bonded them. It made sense for Lanfear to feel betrayed. That didn't change the fact that they both had hated each other. Though then it had been for favor of the Great Lord, now they fought on opposing sides in this war.

"You will not touch me, Lanfear. You will not lay a finger on me." Lilen replied with a bland tone.

She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say. She could break Lanfear's Cour'souvra… if only she could remember the name of her planet.

"And what makes you say that? Do you not feel the True Source? It has been given back to me! The Great Lord honors me once more! Yet you, spider, remain in the shadows!" Hysteria seemed to have taken her.

Lilen felt nothing but pity. But she could not give an ounce. Lanfear was an evil woman for as long as she'd known her. But… was she any better?

"Ah. An honored rat. If you are honored and free once more, then why are you here? I will never tell you how to be free, Mierin Eronaile. _Never._" Lilen told her hatefully, even as she thought of how she could convince the woman to swear herself to the light.

Lanfear's reaction was instant. The Source sapped away instantly, and the woman sunk to her knees. Her rage had been nothing but an act. This woman could not risk killing her only chance at freedom. She was hardly even playing the game. How far had she fallen? At least, imprisoned, _Moghedien_ had kept her dignity inside. This woman seemed to have lost everything, her anger, a mere façade. "Please…" She begged. "I… will do anything… Please tell me! I…beg you. I… would have done the same for you."

"No. No you wouldn't, Lanfear. You are evil incarnate, tamed by a leash of even greater evil." Lilen replied.

"Evil? What else would I be?" She demanded, desperate anger edging into her voice. She didn't even understand. She didn't comprehend the words Lilen was giving her. She'd been held within the Darkness for far too long.

"Good?" Lilen quipped. A useless gesture. This woman didn't even understand the concept.

"Good…? Good." Lanfear replied, tasting the word on her tongue as if it were a shark about to take a limb. "Which side are you _on_, Moghedien?"

In shock, as if it were jarred out of place by the similar words, a fragment of a memory struck her.

"_Which side are you _on_ Gaea? Have you forgotten everything!?"_

Such old words. Thousands of years now it had been. She tried to recall the face of the woman who had spoken them to her, but she could not. The Great Lord's… no… the Dark One's voice had been in her mind commanding her. Naming her the spider, so long ago. She _had_ forgotten everything.

But now she knew who she was.

"I swear myself, to the light and to the White Queen. May she reign forevermore." Lilen replied, her eyes glossed over, memories of the white queen covering her mind as she renewed her broken oath.

She only hoped time would assuage the wounds she had caused it.

Lanfear was shocked to her core. She knew of no one named the 'White Queen' but she recognized an oath of fealty. "Y-you… Forsake, the Great Lord? Y-you fool! How could you...! You are mad! You are_ mad!_"

Even in terror, Lanfear saw that the lines of power that had, for so long, tied Moghedien to the Great Lord had been cut! They had been… cut! Even before her eyes his touch was fading before her.

"I am free, Lanfear. Finally, I have remembered who I am. Think. Did you not have a mother once? Did you not feel love once?" The woman once known as Moghedien asked.

"H-hah. Haha! Love? The madwoman speaks of love! You fool! You have condemned yourself to death!" Lanfear yelled, hysterically.

Lilen would not be deterred. Lightning flashed above them and the winds seem to accentuate her voice. The land itself, bending to her wrath as it once had. As it always had. "And you have condemned _yourself_ to an eternity of the living dead! Now ask yourself which is better, you rat who crawls on her knees for larger rats."

Lanfear couldn't believe what she was hearing as she stared in mute horror at the only of the Forsaken she might have been able to call 'friend,' only a month ago. "You are mad…!" The woman screamed, embracing the source and letting it go sporadically without even realizing she was doing so.

"Am I? Leave the Dark Lord Lanfear! Leave him, forever, and I will give you you're freedom." Lilen demanded.

"Never—! I… You! I can't—!" Lanfear stammered. How could she possibly believe that _Moghedien_ had spat in the face of the Great Lord and gotten away!? Moghedien was the _weakest_ of the Forsaken! Her only strength had been _Tel'Aran'Rhiod!_

"You misunderstand, Lanfear." Lilen said, darkly. "You _will_ be freed of your cour'souvra today. One way…or another."

For a moment, Lanfear didn't realize that was a threat. Moghedien? Threatening… _her!? _The thought was almost impossible. Just as impossible as her escaping a cour'souvra.

"Don't forget who the stronger of us is, Moghedien! I may still be chained but nothing here is keeping me from killing you!" She screamed. In truth, she was afraid. What power must Moghedien have gained!?

Lightning crashed across the sky in tandem with the anger that seemed to be radiating from Moghedien, and far below her waves the size of mountains crashed against the rocky islands upon which they stood.

"Either you're with me, or against me, Lanfear. Choose!" Lilen screamed, down to the fallen form of the young woman.

Lanfear embraced the source. Both of them, the _saa_ again flicking through her eyes. This traitor! This… _traitor!_

"And forfeit my immortality!? You fool!" Lanfear screamed as she rose to her feet. Spinning Earth below her she opened the ground below the traitor. Moghedien would die! No. She didn't deserve to be called the spider any longer! She would die!

Lilen sighed, floating in mid air though not having touched the source, to Lanfear's shock. "So be it."

Her eyes raised to the sky, Lilen embraced her planet for the first time in thousands of years.

"_Gaea Planet Power..." _

* * *

Elayne drowsily woke, feeling the hard pressure of strong stone floor tiles beneath her back, pushing firmly on her. She lay cramped against the northeast wall of the meeting room, her neck craned up to face the broken window.

She moaned dreadfully as she slowly made to her feet, dizzy and disoriented. "W-what happened?" She murmured, to no one.

Finally, her vision seemed to fade back in, swirling lights focusing and coalescing into normal vision. Around the room lay the two women she'd been conversing with before that person… that…_ thing_ attacked them. Burning white with crimson hair, Elayne had never seen a person more beautiful or more terrifying. Even Lanfear paled in comparison.

"Light…" She breathed out staring at the carnage that had been made of the room. The table had been split straight down the middle and the various fireplaces surrounding the room had been snuffed, though how, Elayne couldn't comprehend.

Bits of stone from the walls lay in rubble cracked around the room. Tapestries that had hung on the walls for eons lay ripped and shredded. Stone structures, maps adorning the walls, books of history and customs lay strewn all about.

Elayne shivered.

"Saidin… it must have been Saidin. Otherwise I'd have felt it… Such power…" She moaned. It was enough to make her want to panic. Why was she still _alive!? _What had been done here?

She rushed over to Birgitte as soon as her bearings were straight and knelt down to find the woman merely sleeping, a large bruise on her forehead from where she'd been slammed into the wall.

Mistress Harfor was much the same, though there were no marks on her. She was slumped unconscious near the middle of the room… as if she had fainted.

"Blood and Ashes…" Elayne cursed. At least she was still alive. Despite her surroundings she found it quite likely that she was a prisoner here. That she was imprisoned somehow or… or something.

She stood and walked to the balcony and found no such wall of air as she had expected, stepping through the fine windows of shattered glass, surprised to not find a barrier blocking her way.

Terror gripped her.

There was… no… sound…

There was _always _sound! Even in the dead of night Taverns all across the old and new parts of the city were bursting with life and vigor. Men gambling and lightskirts peddling their… wares. Children should be playing now and soldiers running amok in the streets… but there was _nothing!_

"O Creator… what under the light has happened…?" She begged the sky, staring across the silent land that was her home.

* * *

"S-stop! Haha! Stop I said!" Ranma screamed loudly, echoing her enthusiasm around plains surrounding the small road far below her.

Machin grinned. "I don't want to!" He laughed playfully, tickling her as he carried her in the same manner he had for the past three days. She had only recently woken up, and for some reason, she was in a wonderful mood. Probably had something to do with his wake up call.

"Machin! St-stop! Da-dammit!" The girl laughed as she squirmed in his arms.

Machin had no intention of stopping. The girl thrown over his shoulder like luggage, she pounded piteously on his back as he tickled her behind her knees relentlessly. He grinned and continued pecking at the most ticklish spot on his best friend. He'd known her for millennia, and yet she _still_ turned to putty whenever he did this to her.

"Why! Da-aha-amn you! L-let me g—!"

"No chance!" Machin interrupted playfully. He pushed ahead fervently through the sky to the north, the wind happily sweeping up the blouse he'd found and dressed her in, after she'd gone and burned her clothes away.

_Again_.

Her underside at his neck, he couldn't help but blush a bit.

Honestly he hadn't _intended _to do that… But he definitely enjoyed it! He'd seen the girl naked so many times that it really shouldn't have affected him, but there was something… voyeuristic about this quandary she was in.

Besides, this was the only way he was capable of subduing her anyway.

He relented a bit and slowed down simultaneously, the cloth falling back over her, causing the flustered redhead to breath in relief.

"Y-you win…" she sighed, her chest heaving against his back, staring at the clouds that they soared through in tired defeat.

Machin couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. He'd won! So rare it was that he brought the girl to the state she was in now and each one of her noxious heaves of defeat was like… like… like tasting water for the first time all over again!

In joy, he tossed the girl off his shoulders unexpectedly. Watching her flail in sporadic tumbling, he laughed and zoomed ahead. As expected, the girl soon regained her balance and joined him. She was still breathing heavily.

"How did you like your wakeup call?" He asked over the heavy hum of the wind.

Ranma just stared at him, breathing, the wind whipping her hair back like a burning red sail.

"R-Ranma?" He asked, unnerved. He knew she was no less mad now than before… only a miracle could bring her back now, but… they'd _both_ been about as insane as possible when they'd lived in the ways. Perhaps…

He turned his eyes to her again. Still she remained, flying right beside him, breathing a bit heavier than normal.

Just staring.

And then she was gone.

Suddenly a hand was around his neck, and he couldn't breathe! His hands shot to her dainty wrist, desperately prying her fingers away from his windpipe, but to no avail. Her blue eyes stared into him, burning him with the blemish of how lost her mind was. He saw no reason within her.

"You… where are all the fires, Machin? What did you do with all the precious fires!?" The girl pleaded, her eyes begging him.

Machin had no answer. Even if he'd _had _one, he could not have spoken it. His throat screaming at the incredible force of her small fingers, he could only make out an incomprehensible gurgle. She… she was going to kill him!

"But… you have a fire… you have one too, but it's different. It looks just like… Oh! It's not your fire! It looks just like mine! You stole it! And it punished, you didn't it…? Well, that's what you get, mister 'black wind'." She nodded sagely, actually having the gall to stroke an imaginary beard with her free hand, even as Machin felt his last breaths, dry heaving in a last ditch effort for air.

"Gah!" The redhead screamed. Without warning, Machin could breathe again, and was crushed by an electrifying hug. "Where did all the fires go, Machin!?"

Machin couldn't stop coughing as the girl began to cry… actually _cry_ on his shoulder! The tears never really reached it though, as she was hanging in midair and gravity saw fit to trail them down her face across her ears.

Had he ever truly been so insane? She was… light!

But she was Ranma. His Ranma Even if she killed him, her grief having stripped her of all possible sanity, he would _still_ love her.

As his breath slowly returned to him, he let his arm slide around the girl, glued to his chest as they flew, he now completely carried by her instead of the other way around.

"R-Ranma… I…"

"The blonde child was so beautiful. M-Machin… A-am I—!"

It was as if she had completely forgotten these 'fires' she'd been going on and on about. As if people were nothing more than sparks. Burned for moments and forgotten just as quickly.

… Maybe to her, they were… He'd never known her true age.

Still her question hung in the air, and Machin's answer came without thought, or need of it. "You are the most beautiful person that exists. That girl was a flea next to you." He choked through his still crushed throat.

She grinned giddily. "The voices used to say things like that… I think they were just copying you… dumb voices." She murmured deliriously.

Machin could only barely turn his grimace into a grin. His throat was throbbing in pain, and his words, meant for her and her alone, were being stolen by figments and specters in her mind.

He was losing her… more by the day…

"Right…. Dumb voices…" He shook, burying his face in her shoulder to hide his tears, and squeezing her tight.

Shock jolted through him as if lightning has struck him dead. His toes shivered, his fingers twitched and his face heated like fireball.

His _neck_… _radiated_ with tingling, blissful agony as her lips suckled on the bruised place where her hands had only recently attempted murder.

"R-Ranma…" Machin barely managed to say. Was she…? Was she actually…?

"Shh…" She cooed, her hissing voice sending still more shivers jolting through his body. Were they still flying? He couldn't even tell. Was this actually happening? A dream!? A nightmare?

"Don't tell Akane… okay?" The girl sighed into his neck, as her hands stroked his hair.

Machin could barely nod, not wanting to move his neck away from the delicate touch of her lips. Nor wanting to point out that Akane was… gone.

"Ranma… I… I love you…" He whispered.

Her lips left his neck and her face curled into his chest, her hands buried in his hair, and soothing his back. For the first time in weeks, Machin heard an ounce of sanity in her voice… but the words made him want to weep.

"I know…"

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

_Author's Notes:_**  
**

So I couldn't stand it**. I cut the full length of this chapter **_**almost**_** in half!** Yes! It's true! This **eighteen th****ousand** word chapter is only half of what I originally intended for it! I currently have almost ten thousand words of the next chapter sitting happily on my hard drive so expect the next one to come in like… a month! Maybe even less!

And the next one is going to be _BIG!_

Originally this was going to be one of the big chapters. The first of the three _master chapters_ in this entire story. 'Master' because they are the most epic and most powerful and moving! (In my mind at least.)

But it seems that I will be delaying that chapter till next time. Be ready for Chapter Seven: We as One. I expect it to be huge. I had this at twenty seven thousand words already with another six thousand or so to go to finish the chapter. Decided that was too long so I cut it off here. So while this chapter isn't much to gape at, the the next chapter will be megalithic.

I'm no quitter, and this story and its prequel are, together, the longest Wot Fic online to the best of my knowledge. They _will_ be completed. And really, there's only about five or six chapter left in all actuality, (not including the immanent chapter seven.)

So now, finally, I have jumped into this fic once again. Sorry for making you all wait the nine or ten months I've left it in stagnation.

It's good to be back.

P.S. A cookie to whoever guesses what new Anime I'm bringing in with the top bolded segment up there!

And a new thing I figure I'll try. My fic isn't exactly one that would be a good fic for omake's but then… I've never asked! So I figure what the hell? I'd love to see a comical omake or two. After this boat load of angst, you probably need it.

One final note:

To the other Ranma Writers out there! Trugeta! Trimatter! Sinom Bre! Carrot! C. Rose! Sunny! Muishiki! Penguin-sa! All of you! Get a gdamn move on! (Ozz you too! ) I haven't seen anything from any of you in Months! I'd feel guilty leaving this fic for so long if I didn't KNOW that everyone else was doing the same thing!

Till Next!

MB


	8. The Grave is No Bar to My Call

_**I wasn't trying to hurt anyone.****  
Still they died.  
So many again.  
Because of me.  
So...  
I'm begging you.  
Please...  
Kill me...  
Do it.**_

_**Before I kill the world. **_

**—The Lady Who Dances the Flames—**_  
_

**Chapter Seven: The Grave is No Bar to My Call

* * *

**

"Caemlyn _must_ have Aes Sedai _immediately_! Do you understand Egwene? I'm not asking this as a friend! I'm _demanding _it as Daughter-Heir to Amyrlin! If assistance from the Tower is not sent immediately, Caemlyn will burn to ashes in weeks! The Wise Ones and Windfinders can only help so much!" Elayne shouted in fury.

"I _know, _but I _can't _Elayne. If I send off half the Aes Sedai here to help Caemlyn we will be overrun in a day. There is no chance that the siege would hold out if I give up that many Aes Sedai. We can't handle that many novices at full strength, let alone how we are now." Egwene replied smoothly. "It must wait. I'm sorry, Elayne."

"Hmph." Tamra sniffed. "I hate to say it, Egwene but this girl is an utter lunatic. I wouldn't believe a word of this nonsense."

Birgitte twitched. "You call _me_ a liar as well, Tamra?"

Tamra flinched back, not having actually seen Birgitte appear, so focused had she been on Elayne.

"I don't lie! I'm not lying! I swear Egwene! I swear it!" Elayne screamed in hysteria. Her city was falling to pieces ever since that mad red-headed woman had attacked. Three days had passed. Three days since the fire haired woman had entered her council room through the window, hovering in mid-air, and sending the entire world into white unconsciousness.

When she'd awoken, she had feared that her entire city was dead because of the silence.

They might as well be with what had been done. Elayne was convinced beyond doubt that this _was_ a direct attack from the Forsaken themselves.

The silence that seemed deafening to her when she had awoken had terrified her. She'd roused herself, dashing into the inner city in frantic abandon to find her citizens unconscious. All of them. Those that were alive anyway. Scattered among them were skeletons. Thousands. Maybe even tens of thousands.

They woke easily, with a shake or a pat. Nothing seemed wrong… just… something strange. But the horror of what the white-burning redheaded woman had done quickly became apparent.

Elayne had, at first, felt the ability to channel, and rather strongly, in the first few women she had awoken, and had naturally assumed them to be Aes Sedai that she merely did not know, Windfinders of the same ilk, or Wise Ones from the Aiel peoples.

No…

They could channel. The power to channel was awakening in them.

In _all_ of them. Quickly she found that her entire city was burning with the power. Women woke and found themselves drowning in Saidar, or men battling furiously with the fires of Saidin. Bursts of fire wrapped around all of them. Flows of water bursting from molten earth and flying into the sky! Wind blowing people away, and those same people landing safely as if they had not been buffeted thirty feet into the air!

It was as if Rand were here all over again, just like his ta'veren tampering with fate, but tens of hundreds of times worse. Thankfully the children did not seem to be bursting with the power but the potential had been proven to be there. All of them would channel as they aged.

And there were deaths. So few wilders existed, three in four killed by their own power. Now she had an entire city, of over eighty thousand Andormen and Mercenaries, now cut by a nigh on uncountable number of charred skeletons. Every single one of them able to channel the One Power. Every one of them.

Wilders.

It terrified her, even as it made her weep in awe. No matter what, it would be certain that the small number of Aes Sedai in recent years would be changing…

"E-Elayne…" Egwene breathed, shocked at Elayne's display. It was rare for the blonde woman to act so distraught.

"The man I love is dead, Tarmon Gaidon is approaching fast, I'm not a step closer to becoming queen, and to top it all off my city is going to be destroyed if you don't _help me! _I… I have no _choice, _Egwene! If I can't ask you, then… all I can do is go to Elaida! I _must_ have help!"

Egwene's eyes would have widened, had she been a few years younger. Now, they narrowed. "Elayne, you've been my friend since we were novices together, but for words like that I should have you _stilled._ You are _Aes Sedai! _That comes before all nations. You know that."

Elayne glared. It was rare that she had the gall to do such a thing to Egwene… the woman had become so… hard… since becoming the Amyrlin, but today her nerves were not in the mood for threats. Being stilled, despite being more terrifying then death itself, was a drop in the bucket. She'd been prepared to die for Caemlyn _long_ before her ability to channel had ever materialized. With Rand dead, _Caemlyn_ was everything_. Not _the White Tower.

It was her only hope for the revenge she craved.

There had been one more side effect of the attack. Elayne embraced Saidar and felt it boom into existence around her. Its presence was a deafening ring of bliss inside her. She felt the amount of power that she could draw was practically endless now. Somehow, the red-haired woman had tripled her capacity for handling Saidar. She could draw the source with multitudes of power compared to even Egwene! She thought that… maybe… she could even match Rand himself… if he were still alive. A dim hope. The hole in her heart where the warder link should have been left was proof of that.

But capacity for Saidar did not aid her at all in teaching eighty _thousand_ people to channel!

'But think of the ramifications… What will the Dark One send against eighty thousand channellers!? Well… thirty perhaps, counting out children and the old… If I can teach them… quickly! I… I could have an army that could laugh in Shai'tan's face!' Elayne thought, with a malicious glee that had been becoming more and more apparent, even to herself lately.

It didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing but this…

They didn't need to be Aes Sedai…. No! They didn't even need to be Accepted! Just teach them to make a trolloc head explode as the Asha'man had so kindly demonstrated, at Dumai's Wells… or throw a ball of fire straight down the soul sucking gullet of a Draghkar…

Could there be a greater army? The Seanchan and their _damane_, their leashed channellers… they would be as puppies!

Egwene, and even Tamra, who's potential for handling the One Power seemed as limitless as her own, both took a step back from her as the visible white light shone around Elayne in the depths of Tel'Aran'Rhiod's version of the White Tower. "Forgive me, Mother." Elayne began her fury becoming cold as steel accentuated by the unimaginable force of her power. "I would not ever go to Elaida for help… But if I can receive no help from you… I must find it somewhere. I may be Aes Sedai, but as such I am _going_ to be the queen of this country. If it comes to it, I will abandon the Tower for this." Elayne said lowly.

Birgitte gasped. "E-Elayne! You can't… you can't be serious!?" The archer exclaimed, in worry.

Egwene hadn't even batted an eye. She stood there, holding Elayne's powerful gaze steadily. "I hope it never comes to that. One month. I will send a team of thirty Aes Sedai to Caemlyn in the morning but wait one month and I shall send more. I can spare no—!"

"Thirty!" Elayne snapped. "You have over three hundred! What damage will a hundred cause? A hundred fifty? What can three hundred Aes Sedai do that a hundred and fifty could not!? Make them work in shifts! It's but a step to Caemlyn!"

Egwene glowered. "It is the best I can do. Cease this _Daughter. _You are testing my patience."

Elayne spat. "Fine. When Caemlyn is in ashes I will blame you, _Mother_." She viciously bated. "I have work… more work than you can imagine."

With that, Elayne left the World of Dreams, leaving only Egwene, Birgitte, and Tamra.

"Birgitte." Tamra asked, her voice becoming that of a friend once more. "You are my best friend. Are you sure what she says is true?"

Birgitte looked to her oldest friend, but she didn't see her. "I can… feel it. Saidar… like a torrential wave of calm bliss. I... It is… It is true, my old friend. It is true."

Tamra nodded.

"Then apologize to your Aes Sedai for me if you would?" Tamra asked. "It still seems rubbish, but I don't doubt your word Birgitte."

Birgitte nodded. The truth was she wished Egwene would leave so she could converse with her friend in private. It had been… marvelous meeting Lelind here. She went by Tamra now, obviously, but the only person who could make Birgitte happier would be Gaidal himself.

"I'm… tired. I'll be going as well. I'm sorry for this, you two. I'll leave you alone, if you like." Egwene said softly, her voice becoming that of a mother instead of a leader.

"Do not hold it against her, Mother." Birgitte pleaded. "She is pregnant, and her mood tends to shift. This might just be another one. And she has… good reason to fear for her city. Hundreds are dying. Maybe even thousands. She's terrified her country will be left in ruins."

Egwene frowned. "Time will decide on that, Birgitte. That was no mood swing." The Amyrlin sighed, her seven-colored stole disappearing from her head for the first time in Birgitte's memory. "I'll be going now…"

And with that, the Amyrlin disappeared as well.

"They are… _scary._" Tamra exclaimed when the remaining vestiges of tension finally left the room. "And Elayne! She's almost as strong in the one power as I am now! Sugoi! I can't believe I was like that as Tamra!"

Birgitte laughed. "You get used to it. They're good people, both of them, though I admit, lately Elayne has bee—!"

Suddenly Birgitte's words abruptly crunched off as light flared around her, that she could not see, and the stone wall began _melting. _Birgitte struggled as the wild effects of the source grasping her attacked her unwillingly. The candles that lit the room abruptly snuffed, and were immediately re-lit by Tamra. Instantly, the woman laid a barrier between her best friend and the source she could not yet control.

"You…" Tamra grunted as she strained to control the tempest that was her friend's new access to Saidar "Should really learn to control this."

Birgitte grinned sheepishly. "I suppose so... I've already gotten a bit of it. Elayne is an incredible teacher…"

"Obviously," Tamra replied sarcastically.

Birgitte blushed. "It's been three days, Lelind."

Tamra's smile turned to a frown. "Tamra! I like that one best!" She whined almost childishly.

Birgitte chuckled. "Hmm. Maybe I should just stick with your newest one then. Akane, right? How you managed to have a daughter, the way you are, I'll never understand."

That had been the wrong thing to say, as Tamra froze.

Birgitte realized that she had made a mistake the instant Tamra's face locked up, and immediately regretted it. "I… I'm sorry. I know you want to see her…"

A long silence grated between the two old friends. Akane bathing in hopes lost and dreams that she had again failed to fulfill… but… there was a way. Perhaps…

She broke the silence harshly grabbing Birgitte's attention. "That's right! There's something I've been meaning to ask you, Birgitte…"

"Anything, my friend." Birgitte replied, hoping to be able to erase the sadness across Akane's face.

Tamra took a moment or two to pause and release the shield on her friend, happy to find that Birgitte was no longer reaching for Saidar, subconsciously or otherwise.

"You said Moghedien… pulled you out of Tel'Aran'Rhiod…" She broached casually.

"Yes…" Birgitte drawled. She hated that every time she thought about it. She'd been pulled away from everything important to her. Everything… but why would Akane want to know about…

Oh no…

"You wouldn't happen to know… how…?"

Birgitte's eyes widened in shock.

* * *

Elayne bristled. "Damn Egwene. Damn the Tower. Light!" She groused hatefully. Her rage was such that she didn't think she stood a chance of surrendering to the torrential power of Saidar.

But she had an idea. A risky idea with Rand present. With him gone, the idea was likely downright fatal. But she had no choice. The newfound trade via traveling, not to mention the immense swell of the palace's funds since the recent discovery of valuable ore on her territory had given thought to this idea.

Which was why she now stood at the gates of the newly christened Black Tower. Why she stood now before the M'Hael.

"So I hear… you've had a bit of an upheaval in Caemlyn?" Mazrim Taim, the leader, self proclaimed M'Hael of the male Aes Sedai in Rand's absence. Ex-false Dragon and one of the strongest men able to channel Saidin, the male half of the one power currently alive.

Elayne grinned. "And I have heard you've finally have begun to make this place into a force to be reckoned with, Taim." She replied with a malicious grin. "I have a proposal for you."

Mazrim Taim was an evil man. Of that, Elayne had no doubt. His eyes, his demeanor, even his _voice_ exuded evil like plague. She did not trust him. Not one bit. But one thing he did have, was access to men who could now teach the thousands of men in her city who were burning with the one power.

"You? Have a proposal for… me? Why my queen! I did not think I was _worthy_ of such an honor!" He replied sarcastically. At least thirty men all backed him. She couldn't tell if they were channeling or even holding onto the source. No woman could. But she could see the sword pins decorating their coats, denoting them as 'Dedicated.' The Asha'man equivalent to the Aes Sedai's 'Accepted.'

They should have been strong enough to tear her to shreds.

At least… the _old_ Elayne.

After the red-haired angelic woman had attacked her and decimated Caemlyn, her power had multiplied. Exponentially. She had little doubt that she could wipe these men out, as long as they couldn't link. Taim was the only real worry.

But she didn't intend to fight.

"You need gold, yes? It would be useful in hiring builders and such, correct? You want a tower that can compare to Tar Valon? I _have_ that kind of coin, and strong reason to want just such a tower." She bated.

His curiosity was definitely peaked. "Why would you, an Aes Sedai, want the Black Tower to grow?" He questioned.

Just because he was evil didn't make him foolish. Elayne was well prepared. "I wish to see these two towers united. Saidin has been cleansed, I am told." She said. It was a loaded question. She had been told that Saidin truly was free of the Dark One's taint but Taim's answer had no choice but to confirm yes or no.

The man leaned back, his eyes narrowing to slits to stare down at the blond daughter-heir. "Your ears hear well, Aes Sedai. But I have seen no reason for you to help me. As far as I know this is a White Tower trap to kill me and my men. What reason have I to believe otherwise?"

'Wise indeed.' Elayne thought, idly. She took a deep breath. This could be no lighthearted argument. "I am suffering a crisis. By I, I mean Caemlyn. Did you not hear of the attack? Were none of your men present to witness the white light which consumed my entire city?"

"We did." Taim answered. "Significant increases in power in all of those present. But they finish their tasks quickly. As soon as they awoke they returned, as good men should."

Elayne pondered for a moment as if thinking of the right words to say. In truth it was just a show. Speaking too quickly showed that you had no fluidity. That you had prepared everything in advance. A novices mistake. Not one she would be making any time soon. The trick was to prepare everything… but _seem_ like she was making it up on the spot.

"What would you say if I told you my plan is to build an entire city, Mazrim? A city… of Cuendillar?" Elayne bated.

_That_ made his eyes widen. Considerably. "I would be… intrigued." He said, barely disguising the obvious excitement brimming within him. Cuendillar. The legendary alloy that was unbreakable by any human means. Even the One Power did nothing to it but make it even stronger.

"I propose a deal. I wish for your men to help teach the people of my city to channel Saidin. In exchange, I will give you the funds to create your Black Tower. A tower to rival Tar Valon. Leave this mess of a refurbished farm to the sheep! I will give you a tower to make nations tremble!" She exclaimed.

"There is a catch." Mazrim replied. Not a question.

"Of course. I wouldn't be Aes Sedai without a catch." She chuckled. It was almost true. "Yes, there is a catch. My other demand. My only demand, is that you make a pact of alliance with Egwene Al'Vere. Watcher of the Seals. The Flame of Tar Valon. The Amyrlin Seat. In person yourself, or the Dragon Reborn, upon his definite return. An _unbreakable_ pact of alliance."

Taim smiled. "Truly a stupendous bargain. But surely you do not expect me to believe this. Cuendillar? That has been lost for… for thousands of years. And _all_ of Caemlyn? _Everyone_ can channel? Every man, woman, and child?" He scoffed.

"I am Aes Sedai. You know, as all do, that I cannot lie. The tower is busy with other affairs and can spare little help for my Caemlyn. Therefore I must help her myself, in any way that I can. With your help, I will make Caemlyn a nation of power, while you will become a force to be reckoned with when Tarmon Gaidon approaches. Together with the White and Black Towers, we will bring Shayol Ghul to its knees! Now. What say you, _M'Hael!?" _Elayne proclaimed, her voice thunderous so that all present, which now marked in the hundreds could hear.

A raucous cheer erupted from the men surrounding them. Cheers of 'Elayne Trakand,' and 'The Black Tower!' and 'Caemlyn!' Greeted her ears, making her brim with happiness. There were still those, even here, who had faith in her and _her_ Caemlyn. If there was anything worth fighting for… anything worth _living for_ now that Rand was gone…

This was it.

Mazrim Taim raised a fast hand, and instantly the shouts ceased. Silence echoed across this large place and Elayne felt almost drowned in it. The man met her eyes solidly, his expression unreadable.

"And what shall we call this city, my queen?" He asked, to her shock, _almost_ respectfully.

She practically _beamed, _and in fact, she would have, had she not grown so bloodthirsty in the wake of Rand's death. As it was a smirk was the only thing that graced her face. Now they would pay. She would destroy the Dark One herself. The Dragon was gone. Her Rand was gone… and in his stead, she would be the one who stood and barred the Dark One's might. She would, or she would die trying.

Embracing the source she allowed her voice to boom across the land for miles and miles around, so that all would know and that history could record the beginnings that she laid here. "Let mighty Telillro, The Sky Tower, rise!"

* * *

"No! Ranma! Ranma you can't go in!" Machin exclaimed angrily, glaring spitefully at the redhead floating feet above him.

The redhead glared hatefully at him for a moment, then stared over his shoulder down into the small village, longingly. "The fires! There aren't any there! So many candles, but none of them have fire! Machin! I have to—!"

"Blood and Ashes, shut up about the fires! It's all you think about! Ranma, what about Keika! What about your damn daughter? If she even exists at all!" Machin bellowed, fire burning in his own eyes.

Ranma jerked back, staring at him, shocked. "Kei… Keika exists… My Keika… She's..."

"Not real, Ranma! I don't know what happened to you, but you've got to come back! You… you've just got to! Fight this! Ignore the fires! Ignore the voices! I… I can't take it! Come back! Come back to me! Please… I… I need you, Ranma…"

Ranma stared down at Machin. He was crying.

"Why… why are you crying?" She asked.

Machin roared in fury and frustration. Flashing his hands to the left, aiming at the falling sun, he blasted a ray of ki large enough to obliterate the small town. She stared after the blast for a moment. Then vanished. Instantly, she reappeared, holding a small bauble of red energy in her hand. Idly, she pet the bauble. "It's red. Red… angry. Burning." She murmured, staring at it.

Her eyes jolted to his own tear-filled ones. "Machin… Your Ki always used to be blue… why is it red?"

Had she lost all sense of everything? Could she not even discern things such as anger and despair anymore? Emotion? Did she feel nothing? Or was this childish doll, obsessed with her fires, really all that was left of the woman he had known for an eternity?

"Ranma…" Machin whispered. "Please… you have to come back to me… please…"

Suddenly, Ranma appeared to jolt to attention, and again she stared down at the small village far below.

"Look at them! None of their fires are burning!" The girl exclaimed, as if to mock him. Instantly, she disappeared.

Machin could do nothing. Nothing but close his eyes as the entire world flashed white once more. Twice he'd managed to stop her. Four times… she had lit the world with that strange white fire that surrounded her. Five now.

He never let it touch him. His ki wrapped around him like a wall of glass, he wouldn't let it touch him. That white fire was the source of her madness.

But… if this was it… if there was no way to bring back his Ranma… he thought he might just let that white fire touch him, and end it. Join her in madness. For… what other way to live was there? Without her, life was… meaningless.

In grief, he fell to the earth, waiting to see another village of unconscious bodies, or worse, skeletons, and find Ranma in the middle of it all. He landed softly, the dirt feeling strange on his air ridden feet. His expression grim with depression, he set about walking into the small, now utterly silent town. It wasn't a long walk, and he was grimly pleased to find unconscious bodies. Not skeletons. He had a theory, about that. It seemed, that in her more anger filled moments the blinding light was… brighter. _That_ left the skeletons. Even then, he had seen survivors. Among the skeletons, rare though they may be, would be an unconscious man, or woman, or child. Completely undamaged. Even their clothes untouched.

He had never stayed to see how they acted once they woke.

Ranma didn't even seem to be able to care what she was doing anymore. Didn't understand that she was killing people. Innocent people. Something she'd hated… always hated.

After a few moments of walking, he turned a corner and found the girl, red hair whipping about her as the white fires slowly died out. Her eyes glazed over in unseeing abandon, she reached one hand to the sky as if caressing the outstretched hand of some unseen goddess. She stood in the middle of a strange sort of clearing, with at least twenty or thirty fallen bodies around her, none of which seemed anything worse then unconscious. In the middle of the clearing stood a large strand of cook fires, with wood and stakes on each side, each holding large pot of sorts, hovering over the cook fires, likely getting ready to boil something in preparation for some sort of feast. The townsfolk _were _ornately dressed. Not an unlikely assumption.

Without warning the girl dropped, sleep taking her.

"Shimatta!" Machin exclaimed as he saw the girl's arm slam into one of the many pots, bashing the pot to swing around the metal stake as she slumped to the ground next to the fire.

Steaming water poured of the vat drenching the red-head in a torrent of what would have been scalding burns. Terror gripped him for a moment as he dashed, vainly, to the girl. Sure, she could dance fire but that was when she was _awake!_ What if—!?

Stopping next to the girl he watched. Beautiful red hair twisted and morphed into a black mop. The girl's skin bulged her clothes seemed to _explode_ off of her, ripping at almost every seam leaving a rumpled mess of a person lying, still asleep, in the boiling water.

Kneeling down… not believing, not wanting to believe what he had just seen, he grabbed his best friend's shoulder.

"R-Ranma!?" He stuttered, shaking the girl. She didn't move. 'Girl. She's a girl! She's…'

His hand pulled the shoulder, rolling the girl over to reveal that… she was… no longer…

"No… It… can't be!"

Everything clicked in the most terrifying way he could imagine. The jokes. The stories she'd told him. Their endless tryst. All their years spent together, but never becoming more than the closest of friends.

"All along… All along you…!"

His insides shriveled as his stomach began to heave. He fell, landing hard on the wet ground, tripping over a soaked body, backing away, dropping the items of Ranma's that he usually carried with him.

"You… I…!"

Visible fear welled within his heart as he stared at the black haired man. Ranma. Ranma Saotome. Ranma, who loved Akane. Ranma who had a daughter!

The red-haired girl who… had never been able to let go of that man he now finally saw face to face; the man now breaking his world into a million tiny pieces. He remembered his words, not all that long ago, before she'd lost her mind. Before Ranma had become this… strange… _thing_ obsessing over her fires. His anger, being spurned yet again.

"_Damn wench! Break my heart, again and again! Turn me away and spurn me like always! Do it again! Please! Break it, just once more! You should have just left me in the Darkness! Life was warmer there! Here there is nothing but the cold in your __selfish__ heart."_

He let out a scream that could make the Dark One himself quiver as he blasted away. He didn't know where. He didn't care. Away!

He just had to get _away! _

Her words back to him… the answers had been there all along! All along!

"_I'm not a woman! This body, this face! It's all a lie! A curse! I'd lived in it so long that I had forgotten but when I left I learned who I was! I'm Ranma Saotome, M-Man Among Men! I __can't__ be with you! You have to understand that!"_

His heart felt like it was frozen and burning at the same time. His lungs were collapsing. His eyes stung with a sea of salty tears and wind rushing through his face. He screamed, echoing to the endless forests the pain of a betrayal so deep he couldn't even comprehend it. She'd never given him any sign. She'd never indicated she would _ever_ return his love, save within her madness. His mind told him that. Now, after all this time, he knew why. He'd known for so long. She'd told him. She'd _told _him!

That didn't stop the pain. Nothing did.

Nothing could.

Nothing _ever_ could.

Not seeing, not comprehending, before him, a hole of deep black nothingness appeared, widening across the sky, and he entered, endlessly screaming the name of the beloved he would never have.

* * *

Ranma blinked, blearily, his eyes twitching with the bright sun above him. He gave a soft moan as he blocked out the roaring sun with a hand, squirming about realizing that he was lying on dirt. He sat up, staring vacantly around, finding himself surrounded by buildings. Small buildings. Small fires lay strewn about on the grass, some small, some big, some right in the middle. Some strange with large pots hovering over them. They weren't _real_ fires though. They didn't burn anything like the blue and red one's did.

Rubbing his face with one hand and shading his eyes from the blaring fury of the sun's heat, he felt like he'd been baking here for hours.

"You're very hot!" He shouted upward, screaming his fury at the sun. He jerked his head left, then right. A small group of the fires stood in front of him, but he didn't care about them at the moment. He'd already lit them. Nothing more to do there.

"Machin?!" He called.

No answer.

'Why does my voice sound so strange?' Ranma thought to himself, oddly. He squirmed, and found the cloth he resided within to be almost strangling in its tightness.

He stood, and turned around, and jumped, staring into a fiercely burning blue fire.

Alyne Ilwiss held her pitchfork firmly, but inwardly she was quivering in terror. This strange man had… had _done _something to her. To all of them! But she was a brave woman, and as the mayor of the small city, she would not let harm come to her people. "Wh-who are you!? Stay still, or I'll run you through!"

Ranma shifted nervously, and then looked the other way. "There!" He exclaimed. He pounced with a tiger-like action tearing his prize away from a red fire. Happily, he danced, staring at his beloved book, hugging it to himself.

Alyne gasped in shock. One minute the strange man with long black hair was standing before her, and the next he was _gone. _Instantly, she swung her view and found the man dancing from one foot to the other holding the book that Rheed Wels had been keeping.

"Mine, mine!" The man whooped, as he danced from one leg to the other. Was he _mad_? Light!

"Y-you…" She stuttered, unsure of what to say.

Ranma turned his view to stare at the blue fire. She was lit so well now! So beautiful was she…

Alyne's terror skyrocketed as suddenly a soft hand caressed her cheek. She stared into deep blue gray eyes, the pitchfork falling lifelessly from her fingers. Her hands quivered and she felt fear, and terror, and excitement and power, and serenity, and so many emotions at once that she could barely stand, yet she could not bear to look away.

"So beautiful. Tell me, fireling, have you seen Machin? We're looking for my daughter!" Ranma asked candidly.

Instantly, weapons were directed at Ranma but he didn't care to notice.

"I… Machin…?" Alyne asked, her spine shivering as her face was held, her chocolate brown eyes being bored into by this strange man's penetrating gaze. Her face began to feel hot. Within her as strange welling… a _burst_ of unnatural strength, like a waterfall falling right into her body, seemed to blast through her, and only strengthen the longer she stared into those eyes.

Those eyes.

Ranma smiled as he felt the blue fire burn brighter and brighter. He pour his oil into her and the fire swelled and brimmed like never before! It was… beautiful!

"Let the mayor go!" A voice shouted. Alyne suddenly felt herself pulled back by a strong hand and away from that horrifying, and amazing gaze. Even so, she breathed a sigh of relief. Monny! Monny had saved her.

"Leave us alone! Get out of here!" A boy, no older then sixteen screamed, standing defiantly between Ranma and the Alyne.

Ranma stared at the small red fire. It was small, even after being lit. It probably always would be, even if he helped it.

Without warning Ranma flashed, backing up, to dodge a ray of intense blue flames. He stared, gazing down and finding the lick of these flames to be… familiar. He'd never seen it before but… somewhere… before the fires… he'd felt it. He _knew _this one.

A woman stood there, visible blue fire, bathing her and encasing her and those standing around her in an aura of light. "Ranma. The second time I come. The third shall be the last. As I guided the Dragon, so shall I guide you."

The crowd gasped at her. The women did anyway. They could see the light of Saidar burning around her.

Ranma felt the blue fire circle him but paid it no mind. It was a cute little thing. Multitudes larger then the ones she'd lit in this small village; it had obviously been well tended! But still, Ranma couldn't help the wave of nostalgia, as if he knew this fire from somewhere. Somewhere where he… she… had done something. Something… that he couldn't remember.

"Ranma. Your daughter will die in three days, lest you arrive in time. Keika Saotome will die." Said the short woman, her fair skin glistening in the sun.

Ranma felt his entire being shudder. "What… did you say?" Staring at her, he felt the fire recede. He saw her for what she truly was. Saw them all. People. Fires. When had he stopped seeing people for what they were? What was _wrong _with him?

He looked left and right. Faces. People! Fire! Blood and ashes!

"Keika!" He screamed. The woman's fire encased his mind, and he felt madness seeping out. What had he become? What under the light had he become!?

And then the memories. Akane. Traveling to Pluto and facing Setsuna. Akane's death, and the immense guilt that had never truly relented.

Keika. Raising her, teaching her, watching her grow into her own, even as the daughter warded away the loneliness she had always felt within the darkness.

Machin's revival. His despair and his eternally unrequited love.

The city… The city he had destroyed. Skeletons everywhere. He'd… blocked it from his mind! Blocked faces from his mind. Blocked everything, so that he couldn't see what he was doing. Oh god, he was a murderer! So many… How long had it been since he had seen a face other then Machin Shin's? He'd looked away. Retreated into himself, into that strange white fire he could now feel quelling beneath his skin.

He screamed, sinking to his knees, dropping the book, holding his head and wailing. "Ah… god… I'm a monster! I'm… I killed…! What have I been _doing_ here!?" He railed against himself, hatred for everything that he was, burning him from the inside out.

He'd retreated into his madness to escape the harrowing guilt for killing so many, and in turn, had killed hundreds… maybe even thousands more. And now… he felt his mind being purged of its insanity, only to find he wished himself dead. He watched the fires melt and coalesce into forms. Faces. The red, men, burning with the fire. Saidin! The same fire that had always hidden behind the veil! He too, had a red flame. The blue fire… women's fire. Saidar. The one he'd never known.

So much coming to him, so fast.

"Fight it, Ranma Saotome, Dancer of the Flames. Fight this malady. You must hurry! If you do not reach the White Tower in time, your daughter shall perish!" The woman screamed, as she forced Saidar against the horrors in his mind, lifting the madness that had taken him. "The Tower will destroy her! You must destroy them first! You must, or you're daughter will die! Keika Saotome will die!"

Suddenly, Ranma lost all sight. Suddenly, he was gone. He stood affront an enormous tower, made to look as a sword mightily arching into the sky, its white walls burning with reflected sunlight. Craning his neck, he found that he could not see the top. Thousands of people were staring at him, from their place below. All of them jeering in cries of anger and joy. All of them staring. There were thousands! Hundreds of thousands!

He stood atop a wooden fixture, situated in some strange middle ground. Four roads going in four directions separated off from him, one leading to the magnificent tower, the other three appearing to be busy streets, all filled with hundreds of people. All staring, and crying in fits of rage.

"My people!" A woman, who he only just realized had been standing with him on this wooden rise, screamed aloud over the masses jeering, only causing them to egg her on even more. "We've found this traitor! This _darkfriend!" _With a wave of her hand she gestured back behind Ranma. "The one who has caused all this turmoil! All this fear! At last we have caught her!"

The woman stood tall and defiant, dressed in elegant robes with long dark hair, and dark eyes to match. She seemed a woman who could destroy lesser beings with a mere gaze. Intimidate them into smolders.

Ranma felt no fear. But he knew he did not like this woman. He did not like her.

"This is our darkfriend!" She screamed, turning and stepping aside to point at another person. A young girl, about his height, wearing a cloth bag over her head. She stood her arms tied forcefully behind her back.

A man, a large axe strapped to his back, stood behind the woman, holding her painfully twisting her arms. Without pause the man ripped the black bag off her head to reveal…

Ranma jerked back in shock as his daughter came into full view. Her head was shaved of its beautiful long locks, and her eyes seemed dim with fear and terror, but Ranma could never fail to recognize her. "Mama!" The bound girl screamed.

"My daughter… My Keika…! Let her go!" Ranma demanded, rage, unbelievable rage blasting through him. Instantly he was at the man's back, sending a kick flying towards his head so fast that it would surly lob the fat thing right off!

Ranma fell harshly onto his stomach, the momentum taking his feat out from under him as his kick sailed _through_ the man's head, passing through it as if through air!

"Wh-what is this!?" Ranma screamed, staring at the man, who didn't even seem to acknowledge his presence.

His eyes locked onto Keika, and the girl screamed again. "_Mama! Help me!" _

'She can't even see me!' Ranma realized in terror as the man grinned pushing Ranma's daughter forward. What under the light was going on!?

The crowd of countless people jeered and booed and screamed as the dark-eyed woman smiled down at Ranma's daughter.

"What are you doing? Keika! Keika you've gotta run! Listen to me!" Ranma yelled, standing right into his daughter's terrified eyes. She didn't even see him. He stood right in front of her and she couldn't even see him!

The man behind her pushed again, and Ranma felt the girl boosted _through_ him. Was this real?

He turned, and saw even more red then he'd previously felt. The man pushed his daughter to her knees, and forced her neck into a… a…

"Oh god…" Ranma shuddered, staring from his daughter's kneeling form to the axe the man was hefting off of his back.

"No… this can't be happening."

"_Kill her! Long live the Amyrlin Seat! Kill her! Death to the Darkfriend! Kill her!" _Came roars from the crowd, an almost incomprehensible thrum of anger and mob-like abandon.

"So to pay for your crimes, you shall die before the people of the city you sought to destroy!" The dark eyed woman exclaimed.

Hatred brimmed in Ranma and he reached for his power, his eyes his emotions, everything blanketing the world, but not touching _anything, _as he desperately sought to stop this.

His fists sailed through the woman as she stared down at his daughter, smirking as if a fist _wasn't _emerging from the side of her ghost-like head.

"Kill her!" The woman shouted and the crowd whooped in joy!

Ranma felt his heart in his throat. _'No, no, no. I didn't want this! I didn't bring Keika to this world for this! I didn't—!"_

The axe raised!

"Stop! Please, _Stop_!" Ranma screamed, tears falling in waves down his weary cheeks. This couldn't be happening! It couldn't!

"Mama!_!" _His daughter bellowed in reply, to the crowd's laughter.

"NO!" Ranma screamed, another of his fists passing harmlessly through the axe man for what must have been the millionth time.

"_MAMA!!"_

And the axe fell.

Ranma's howl blocked out everything, fire bursting all around him, erupting the entire world in a volcano of molten ash. Anger! Anger and rage, unbearable in their deafening roar welled through him. Fire burned all around him; he saw nothing but a sea of flames, rolling and roiling like the ocean, waves of lava bursting and crushing beneath a torrential thunderstorm. He was the dance. The dance of vengeful fire. The presence was gone. His daughter was gone!

His rage overwhelmed him completely. Rage, and lust for vengeance…

They would die. They would _all_ die… every… last… one of them.

The sea of molten lava followed Ranma as he rocketed off into the sky, a sea of the burning air traveling after him; a tail of fire. Blasting through the sky faster than any eye could ever hope to see, Ranma left the small village, taking every ounce of his power with him.

The woman lay on her back… She felt weary. Her eyes felt like they had just been burned out of their sockets. Her head spun, and she could barely move. She breathed ash and smoke, coughing from her precarious position, but she smiled, as she let go of the source, her second mission complete. She'd never expected it to be so… powerful. Once more she would guide Ranma.

To Tarmon Gai'don.

Then she, too, vanished, leaving a city full of utterly shocked, but unharmed people, staring into the sky, watching the molten tail of red fire as it flashed away across the sky.

* * *

Turei was irritated. She'd been scrubbing pots all day. All the light-blasted day long, for breaking one bloody dish and now…! And _now_, she was being punished for asking an _Aes Sedai_ for a glass of water! Light! It wasn't her fault! The woman looked younger then _she _was, and she wasn't wearing a shawl! How was she supposed to _know_? The ring on her finger denoted her as accepted… that wouldn't have been too much? Would it? To ask an accepted for a glass of water?

She shook her freakishly blonde hair, moving the bangs heatedly out of her eyes. In anger she stomped a lithe leg, almost dropping the books she held. Damn tower. But oh, how she wanted to be _Aes Sedai._ So she dealt with it. Wearily, she slumped down the steps to the Mistress of Novices quarters, fearful of what was to come. Silviana Sedai would be furious at seeing her again! Absolutely furious! Especially when she _promised_ she wouldn't be back for a month at the very least…

She couldn't even go one day… But what could she do…?

Weary, she stopped to rest, leaning her back against the doorway leading outside into the small courtyard between the main tower and the newly relocated office of the Mistress of Novices. The woman was insane. It didn't matter if it were two in the morning or twelve in the afternoon. She was always there. _Always. _She always knew who was entering her office. She _always _knew _exactly_ the offence that the novice had incurred before the novice arrived and she always had a different and more strenuous punishment.

But… she did have a soft side… at times. She blushed furiously when the woman had caught she and her pillow friend Eilonmay together in their rooms late one evening several weeks ago. It had been… embarrassing to say the least, but the woman just smiled and walked away, with a quick 'You have class with Matraiya Sedai early tomorrow girls. Best get some rest."

And when Elaida had tripped over her that once… _Elaida herself! _The Amyrlin herself! She'd felt as honored as she was terrified when those dark eyes were turned on her. She was to be sent to the Mistress of Novices every day for eight weeks! _Eight Weeks!_

The Mistress of Novices had been kind after the first week. She was a cold, hard woman, but not so hard that she could lay the strap to a young girl such as herself every night for _eight weeks!_ Light, the woman would have been a monster.

Perhaps… Elaida _was_ a monster, but then, she wasn't the one holding the strap. The Mistress of Novices, unlike the Amyrlin so far, was a hard, but fair woman. Perhaps, if Turei was lucky, Silviana would let her off with a warning for this. In her defense, the Aes Sedai _did _look very young, and did not have the ageless look yet that she so wished she could have adorn her own visage.

She began the short trek across the courtyard when a sharp wind blasted across her face. She covered it steadily with an arm, draped in the robes designating her as novice white, effectively blocking the harsh wind.

Then, a light erupted across the sky, like a lightning bolt flash, but stronger, filling the night sky and making it look as day.

"Wh-what under the light…?" She breathed, her eyes squinting as she pushed against the wind that had now increased in its harsh whipping.

The light faded somewhat as too did the wind. Dropping her arm, Turei stared into the sky. Her blood ran cold.

"By the creator…" She breathed.

Hovering right above the tip of Dragonmount, the tallest mountain in the world, or so she believed, floated a miniature sun. A crystalline sphere of swirling red and white fire. It burned, trailing smoke high into the sky, writhing like a megalithic marble of white and red flames.

Terror quelled up in her stomach as she watched the sphere. She embraced the source, surrendering to the might of Saidar, fear egging her on. The top of Dragon Mount was almost three to four miles high… Her position on the third floor of the tower, only a mere hundred feet. Even from so far away she felt this thing's anger. Its hate… It _burned_ with it. It seethed, rings of fire bursting around it, hissing off it in all directions, blasting away and dissipating as still more rings of fury pulsed from it.

Then it happened.

A shaft of white light burst down from the ball of fire, aiming for the harbor far below her. Turei shivered and ran to the edge of the building, hanging over the walls to look down upon the harbor. "No… No!"

The ray of light slammed into the river, creating an eruption of water that burst high above even her as she stared. "This… this isn't happening… it's a dream!" She thought as she stared.

As the geyser of water began to fall back to the sea, the ground exploded. A mushroom of smoke and debris blast into the sky destroying the geyser and obscuring everything from view. Turei stared in horror as she watched a ship, or what was left of it, buffeted through the air bursting out of the base of the mushroom-like cloud to come crashing down onto another ,sinking them both almost instantly beneath the waves. A blast of wind rushed past her bombarding her and the walls of Tar Valon making them creak and groan. She watch buildings near the harbor topple from the massive wave.

"The… The Tower is under attack. Oh light… the White Tower is under attack!" She thought fearfully. Was it the rogue Aes Sedai? Was this Egwene Al'Vere's doing!? No… surely not! Aes Sedai were not _allowed_ to use the power as a weapon! And she felt no trace of Saidar from this… thing. She stared back up at the sphere now visible as the smoke cleared. It raged ever more, and slowly she could tell, picking up speed, it began to move towards the city.

So… was it men? Men who could channel? Surely no one man could make this… was this the Black Tower?

M-Maybe… The Dark One? But… wasn't the Dark One supposed to use armies? Demonic beasts? Maybe… maybe _that_ was what this was? Oh Light! If this was just _one! _

Fear almost consumed her as she cowered, falling to shudder behind the wall, placing her back against it in a quivering ball. Another explosion blasted through her ears and wind whipped at the hair above her not hidden by the low stone guard-rail.

'I… I have to do something.' She thought. Another explosion. Another burst of wind. Louder this time. The tower was still silent… did no one see? Did no one know? 'I have to do something!' She told herself.

She would be brave! Dammit! She'd been a coward all her life… afraid of festivals. Afraid of tinkers. Afraid of thunderstorms. Afraid of… men. That one perhaps, rightly so. But, always afraid.

Now was a chance… to prove herself to be _worthy _of that lofty title of Aes Sedai.

Another explosion. Light, it was getting closer! Shouts and screams were beginning to echo from below. One could normally barely hear the sounds of the city from this height anyways. For screams to be heard… she shuddered.

"I have to be brave… that's what… what Silviana Sedai would do. What Matraiya Sedai would do!" She told herself. Queasily, she stood, and turned.

The marble of fire, the white sun, had descended Dragonmount. Still so far away, it now _was_ a sun, it's white and red fire lighting the night and making it seemed an ethereal day. Far below her, the harbor lay in shambles. Chunks of walls were destroyed beyond repair, and buildings that had stood for centuries reduced to rubble and dust.

Four or five clouds of smoke and ash rose high into the air, covering the sky with a blanket of smoke; Turei took one final look, before she dashed away. Silviana would know what to do! But she had to know what was happening! Light! Most Aes Sedai were sleeping now! Few of their rooms even had windows! And with the tower as it was now, each of the Ajah's at each other's throats, fearful of betrayal and mayhem… would they even be able to provide a unified front?

Running, she feared that today would be the day the White Tower finally fell. Paralyzing fear gripped her at that thought and she ran all the faster. She _would _become Aes Sedai! Turei Nalenyu! Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah! And there was no way that could happen if the tower fell today! So it _had_ to stand!

"Creator, give me courage…" She whispered in a quick prayer.

The idea that she would never become Aes Sedai spurred her feat more than anything as she dashed down the three flights and through the endless weaving halls to reach the Mistress of Novices quarters. She burst through the door breathing heavily, and shocking both Silviana Sedai and a novice that Turei had never met, her eyes leaking tears likely from the switch Silviana gripped.

"Silviana Sedai!" She screeched, "The Tower is—!"

"When my door is closed…!" The woman interrupted harshly. "You do _not_… enter. Is that underst—!"

"There's no _time_ for that!" Turei bellowed, surprising herself at her own bravery. "The Tower! The Tower is under attack!"

Silviana blinked. Then… she laughed. "Un… under attack? Truly?" She scoffed. "Really child, you must know that that the army couldn't possibly cross the river, and even if they could the walls would—!"

Turei had had enough. Just because she was a novice didn't mean she didn't comprehend when something was bad! This woman was speaking to her as if she were and ignorant child! Young she may be; stupid she was not.

"The walls have _fallen_ Silviana!" Not adding the customary 'Sedai' to the end of the Mistress of Novices name had been a sign. A symbol. Silviana knew her quite well, and in her entire time as a Novice, she had never so much as spoken _back_ to an Aes Sedai, let alone shown such disrespect. At another time, Silviana would have whipped the girl senseless. But then she saw the desperation. The whimpering girl inside those fierce, terrified eyes. "Come, Ana." The Mistress of Novices spoke to the other girl, quietly, in that usual, harsh tone. "Consider yourself lucky. Your punishment is ended early for today."

Silviana strode effortlessly to and past Turei, signaling her to follow as Ana got dressed. Sparing a quick glance to the bleeding back of the smaller, naked girl, she turned and quickly stepped up to Silviana.

For a moment or two they walked in a steady silence, speed gracing their feet.

"If this is any less important then I am led to believe by your tone, novice…" Silviana snapped harshly, "Then you _will_ be receiving the eight weeks Elaida assigned you. And _more._"

Turei shivered, and was about to form a reply when a low boom shook the stone floor.

"It is coming…" She whispered. "Light shine on us… It is coming."

She dashed ahead, back up the way she had come. It would have to be _proven_ to the fool woman! Light, but she didn't _need this! _Why was it that Aes Sedai only ever took other Aes Sedai seriously! This was important!

Somehow Silviana followed, without ever rumpling her long red dress, almost seeming to float up the stairs after Turei as she ran. Finally they reached the top of the eastern side of the monumental tower. Desperately, she ran to the wall, and saw… nothing. Fires burned down near the dock, and the large chunk of the wall that had been destroyed could be seen throughout the dead of night, lit by a full moon. Smoke, hazy and black, hovered high above them, but no evidence of the mushroom-like clouds blocking the stars from view remained.

"I see… An overactive imagination? Perhaps you are a bit… too stressed? Felt like something drastic would get you out of your visit to me tonight, hmm?" The Mistress of Novices asked, in a clearly irritated voice.

Desperately, she flashed her eyes across the now darker horizon. The smoke looked like mere clouds now! The fires looked like little more then cook fires, but she knew what they were. In the day she would be able to see! But in the night it looked as if, nothing had happened! The tower was silent. No one knew! No one but her… and she… "I… I swear! Silviana Sedai I swear there was—!"

Something moved. Her eyes darted to it, and she wished that they had not.

Above her. In the sky, illuminated only slightly by the dimmed white moon behind it, was a figure, hovering above them. So small… so far away… but with a hatred so strong that Turei could not move.

Eyes. Red and burning eyes. Like needles slicing through her they stared at her, boring into her soul and cleaving it from her body.

"What under the light are you doing girl!?" Silviana was demeaning her, but Turei did not hear. She didn't feel; she did not think. She couldn't, so chilled were her bones. "It _sees_ me…_!" _She whispered, as she fell, her bottom colliding with the stone ground. She felt nothing. She didn't even realize she'd fallen as she quivered in terror.

The Aes Sedai was worried now, but Turei didn't care. She was watching what would surely be her death. It was looking at her! She could _feel _it in her bones! Those eyes! I-Idiot woman! Didn't she see? How could she not feel the terrible hate? How could she stand there without even _sensing it!?_

It was almost a whisper, but to Turei, the words echoed like thunder. Perhaps the words were so loud her ears were destroyed by them. Perhaps they were meant only for her. A scream unlike any she'd ever heard before, blaring in her mind and whispering at the same time.

"_You'll all die!"_

Turei couldn't move. She couldn't run. She could do nothing as the sky erupted in light.

* * *

Elaida was jostled by the first explosion. Without knowing, why or for what reason, she was instantly on the move. A threat? A threat to her White Tower? It was not possible… but somehow, she knew it was.

Elaida Sedai, the Amyrlin Seat, came to the top of her white tower to gaze down upon terror itself. Her spine crawled with spiders as she stared into a midday light when the dead of night should have encircled them all.

Tendrils of light lanced throughout the streets of her city. Hundreds, thousands, each sweeping through the streets. Screams echoed everywhere and fire burned wherever the white and red tendrils lanced. Each a foot in diameter they swiveled like drunken comets, eagerly seeking out people to silence. In awe, in horror, Elaida watched as her city, the greatest city in the world, was laid low. She would not have it.

"The Light blind you!" The woman screamed, embracing the power, to buffet her voice for leagues. "Aes Sedai! Tar Valon is at war!"

As if summoned, a tendril of light lanced up the side of the tower, aiming for her. One, two, three of them, one blasting straight from the sun-like ball of red and white fire itself that was the center of it all.

She embraced the source, and with a stroke of her hand, she bashed the tendrils away with a torrent of air, as if swatting a fly. The light of the first tendril flickered and winked out. Another swing and another tendril collapsed before her and the might of Saidar.

"You think to attack the White Tower!?" The woman screamed into what should have been the night. Aes Sedai appeared. All along the walls. Suddenly, the tendrils were failing everywhere. Batted away by air, snuffed out by water, or consumed by earth. Everywhere her Aes Sedai rose up against this threat. This attack.

This was Tar Valon! The White Tower! It had stood for thousands of years and the Dark One's works held no sway here.

Sister's linked. Accepted, and novices in white aiding their Aes Sedai teachers and Sisters rose up, and Elaida smiled as she stared into the ball of flames, all the while beating away the relentless tendrils that seemed to demand her destruction.

Four Aes Sedai appeared behind her. She felt them as she swatted the tendrils. "Link with me!" She demanded, and without pause she found the power directed to her in waves. Power. Endless power. With it she summoned a wall of air that these tendrils of light could not _hope_ to penetrate.

Calm surrounded her as she hurled the wall at the sphere of fire hovering in the sky. The endless tendrils of flame were batted aside like paper, their tails swinging drunkenly away and sputtering off in midair one by one as the wall collided with them.

The sphere of fire seemed to… pulse, and a bursting array of tails of flame exploded from it. Hundred thousands more to replace the defeated fire. Together, they blasted away in all directions, and her wall of air was consumed in wreathing flames, air burning in midflight.

Elaida held not an ounce of fear in her bones. She would turn this evil away and show the Dark One, surely he was the only one who could summon a monster such as this, the fury of the Light.

She firmed her resolve and sent another wave of air blasting at the sphere. She wound the threads of air so tightly together that she did not think such a strong wall had ever been built, but that was only a temporary distraction. Turning her eyes, she reached for the river. A pillar of water rose, and Elaida strained with the effort of effecting the water at such a distance. But she would not be deterred. As Amyrlin Seat it was her duty to protect all in this city.

Higher and higher the pillar of water rose until it was as tall as the balcony in which she resided.

A swing of her hand, unnecessary but helpful in weaving the flows forward, and another wall of air threw the water across the city, dousing hundreds, perhaps thousands of the swiveling comets, while bathing her city in Saidar touched water.

The ball of fire seemed to… simmer in rage, the water steaming off it. Somehow the thing… turned. For a moment, just a moment, Elaida saw the visage of a man within the ball of burning flames, and her blood ran cold. Eyes burning redder then the deepest color of blood, only a glance, but it was enough to make an unmovable rock such as her feel fear.

She shook it off as the sphere of fire again consumed the figure in its ever-whirling marble of flame. Without warning, the fire burned higher. Wider the ball grew. Wider. Bigger.

Elaida grit her teeth when she realized that the wall of air she'd sent at the burning thing before was nowhere to be found, gobbled by the flames. "Attack the ball!" She screamed, furiously, her anger clouding everything. She would not feel fear! Damn this monstrosity for making her feel fear!

"Attack the ball!" Her voice rang throughout the city. Those Aes Sedai who still slept were awakened. Those who had not yet heard the commotion came to aid. All over the city, hundreds of Aes Sedai, and Accepted, and Novices took up Saidar.

Walls of water and air. Bolts of earth. All manner of these things began blasting at the ball from all directions. The White Towers walls held firm, and the thousands of tendrils lancing about the city, indiscriminately killing, were beaten back once again.

Others took up her idea, raising their own pillars of water and bashing them across the city to whip out hordes of the beastly flaming things.

Screams never stopped echoing from the streets below though. No matter how many they snuffed, those demonic fires killed people with a touch. Far below her, she could see one, flashing its way through fearful people's bodies, doing its level best to kill as many of her citizens as possible.

Her ire raised, she reached and the ground beneath the small fireball rose and consumed the thing before it could hurt any others.

This would not do. She had to stop this at the source. Her eyes turned hatefully to the ball, growing ever wider, hovering hundreds of feet above and beyond her. She _had_ to destroy this thing! But it just wasn't falling…

* * *

"Mama!" Keika screamed in joy and fear. She dashed down the spiral staircase, leading as fast as she could out of the tower. Never before had she felt such power from her mother. Never before had she seen such anger. Never before, but it was definitely her. It was _definitely _her mother, finally returned to her.

Finally. Finally.

Corridor. Hallway. Staircase. Damn! Damn, how could she get out of this place? It was gigantic! But she would make it… she promised herself she would make it out of her and to her mother.

She was so close. Keika could feel her, her flames burning like the sun. She was dancing. She had to be dancing such a blaze that the entire city would be dancing along with her.

The exit!

She dashed for the huge double doors, that she recognized from her many trips out into the city with Irathul. She knew this place. But… Something was wrong. The doors were barely hanging on by their hinges. Bits of rubble lay decorating the hall's fine carpet and stone floor. Pieces of the walls were shaking.

Something was wrong.

She ignored it. It wasn't her concern. She blasted out of the doors, flinging them open, dimly realizing that she actually knocked one of them off with the force of her push.

All around her lay broken bodies, and buildings. All around her lay white flames, death and screams.

Keika quivered. "F… Fuck…"

Her eyes trailed to the miniature sun lighting everything…

"Mama…" She whispered.

Her mother was doing this. Her mother was destroying the place she had so come to love.

Her mother…! How… how could she!?

"_Mama!" _She screamed, flaring her aura to the strongest she'd ever given it. She gathered her ki within her hands… as her mother had taught her so long ago. With all the rage she could muster, she hurled it at the ball of fire, a golden bullet lacing through the air to slam into the fiery ball of hatred and anger.

How could she do this!? How could she _do this!? _

"_MAMA!!"

* * *

_

Egwene stared up in horror at the ball of light hovering directly above the center of Tar Valon. Each new pulse a thousand tendrils blasting forth to sweep the city. Screams echoed across the River Erinin and her horror only climbed. The White Tower was under attack, and she was not there to defend it. Three hundred Aes Sedai laying siege to the White Tower were on the wrong side to truly help.

The light created by the flaming fake sun cast an eerie white glow across the land for miles, lighting up half the side of Dragonmount.

Their war didn't matter. Nothing but keeping the White tower standing mattered.

Egwene heard Elaida's harsh voice screaming bloody fury at the fiery ball. She felt Saidar being used… so much. Like the Choedan Kal were being used right in the middle of her city. _Her City!_

As she watched another wall tumble her mind made itself up. "All Aes Sedai, The White Tower is under attack!"

Even as she spoke a plan began forming in her mind. The walls of Tar Valon. They would be traveling onto the Walls of Tar Valon. Her plan became words in an instant. Groups of Aes Sedai opened gateways to points on the walls they remembered. Groups of thirteens and twenty sixes, and thirty nines, all going to different places all around the city.

Circles could only max out at thirteen. So thirteen sisters together… thirty nine to the north wall, thirty nine to the south of the tower itself. Groups of thirteen all along the outsides of the walls. Eight… to form an octagon. That should put them to the most use. Two more groups to the courtyards, on the east and west sides of the city.

Two groups to the gardens. That was two hundred and thirty four Aes Sedai…

To lead almost a thousand novices and only a sparse few accepted into what was surely the first skirmish of Tarmon Gai'don.

One more group… her group.

Straight into the heart of the White Tower herself.

She was Amyrlin Seat. Elaida thought she was… It would be settled this day, once and for all, but for now they had a unanimous enemy. An enemy worth uniting for.

As they should have done ages ago. As they should have done.

These were the thoughts burning through her mind as she opened the into the Amyrlin's office… thirteen of her best behind her. The strongest. Romanda Cassin, of the yellow ajah… one of the best healers she knew, behind Nynaeve. Lelaine Akashi, of the blue ajah. Bitter rival of Romanda but just as strong. Siuan of the blue and Leane, now of the green ajah. The previous Amyrlin Seat, and Keeper of the Chronicles before Elaida's coop. Sheriam, also of the Blue Ajah, and the Mistress of Novices before Elaida usurped Siuan causing all of this… this divide. Anaiya of the brown. Others. Sitters. Powerful Aes Sedai… women who would stir fear in even Elaida's council, to back the power that she, Egwene Al'Vere had established for herself. Beonin of the grey. Carlinya of the white, and Myrelle of the green.

These women that she had slowly bent to her will. Grudgingly. Painstakingly. And not even close to completely, but still, she had made them hers… The tower remained yet. She would protect it. And then, she would make that hers as well.

It was rumored among the camp that Egwene Al'Vere was as hard a woman as Sereille Bagand. One of the greatest Aes Sedai to ever wear the stole of the Amyrlin Seat. It was rumored that Egwene Al'Vere… a girl who was once simply the daughter of an innkeeper in a village where the people were hardly familiar with the concept of shingled roofs… was to be as strong a leader as that.

That frightened her. And empowered her all the same.

It didn't matter what it took. Her plans were finalized almost instantly. Eighty Aes Sedai remained behind within the camp. Six hundred thirty seven novices with them. Another five hundred and twelve assigned together with the groups invading the White Tower.

And before her eyes, it had begun.

She opened the first gate and all around her and stepped into the Amyrlin's Study… _her study, _for the first time. She left the sound of cheers and droves of other gateways opening behind.

And she heard screams. Nothing.

But screams.

* * *

Lilen was tired. But she had never felt more free. Not in her entire life, had she felt as good as this. This. This bliss, of embracing the planet that had once been and would always be her own. The planet that she now recalled had been sealed away so long ago.

The white queen. And her. She had volunteered, to seal her planet away into this pocket space, so long ago. Seal it, and Seal the Dark One along with it.

The Dark One had been bound by so many seals for as long as memory could remember. Humanity… in their stupidity… and she… had thought they could repair what a god had created. Why, oh _why_ had they drilled into that deep place? The bore, they called it now, but she knew it by a different name.

The Heart of Gaia.

That is what had been imprisoning the Dark One for so many years. That and the seven Cuendillar seals keeping it all intact.

So many thousands of years. How had his touch invaded her mind so thoroughly, turning her into such a monster and a coward as the "Spider" Moghedien had been?

She retched again, at the thought, but she still felt better than she ever had.

Free of Shai'tan's touch. Free. Free.

"_You _are_ free, my little one. But not so free. You take up a new burden. A new mantle. New… and old."_

The voice was weak, next to the boisterous voice Lilen coveted from her memories. She recalled a time when she could speak with her planet as if it were a living being. All of them had been able to. Mars. Mercury. Her best friend, Neptune. Plu…

Pluto.

Oh god.

Pluto…!

Setsuna! Setsuna Meioh was Nyra'nael! Setsuna Meioh was the Nai Blis!

Pluto! Was the advocate of the Dark One!

Such anger surged in Lilen that she didn't think all the water in the world could quench the fire burning within her. Such hatred for the one who had Corrupted so many. Pulled so many down.

It had surely taken him years. Hundreds of thousands of years to finally gain the power to reach through the void and even _begin _to touch Setsuna!

How… how could she have fallen? Stronger than even the queen… Sometimes Lilen had thought the woman seemed old as the Ba'alzamon himself… She who saw time and all its facets? How could she… have?

"Hello, Lilen."

The voice shocked Lilen to her core, and she spun, turning around deftly to face the voice that dared to enter her small shack deep within the lightly snow clustered fields just south of Far Madding. Someone who knew, her and knew her name. Someone who had to di— NO! No. She couldn't think like that anymore. She couldn't _be_ Moghedien in all but name.

"Who are you?" Lilen asked, reasonably sure that that was what she would have done once, all those years ago.

"In this time? Ah, about a year or so ago I killed the man you called Aginor. Several months later I destroyed your little puppy there, and it was 'thought' that I died along with her." The woman responded with a gesture towards the unconscious form of Cyndane. No. She was Mierin Eronaile now. Now that her ties to the Dark One had been cut.

Moiraine. Moiraine Sedai. A name known even among the forsaken. Belial, Aginor, and Lanfear had all fallen to the infamous Moiraine Sedai in one way or another. But what did she mean by…?

"In this time." Lilen stated, trying to make it seem more a demand then a question.

"Yes. The present and future miss Pluto send their regards. Though I'm afraid the girl is somewhat of an ignorant idiot at the moment. She's being held under the finger of a man you are _quite_ familiar with. Morridin, I think he calls himself? At this time, our current Pluto finds herself _very_ infatuated with him."

Lilen's eyes widened.

"What do you want?" She asked. This time it was a question. This had happened before. She remembered it. She remembered futuristic versions of women or men returning to the past to speak with Setsuna or others. Her, once even. But the new… the new Pluto? Who could she be? Pluto had been Setsuna for as long as she could remember.

"I believe you just realized at this moment that Setsuna is no longer the Senshi of Pluto, yes?" The woman garnered, her voice completely calm.

Lilen studied the woman and found that she was indeed Moiraine from the descriptions she'd been given. Short and handsome if not beautiful on a par with Cyndane's girlish beauty or her own youthend vigor. She had a narrow face with with sterling eyes and shimmery hair. Oddly though, she lacked that strange agelessness the Aes Sedai of this era seemed to so covet.

Her age was quite apparent, and if Lilen had to guess, she would have said mid fifties. To a normal person, twenty seven.

Lilen nodded slowly, an d the woman carried right on. "Good. Remember this date. It will make Pluto's hunting a bit easier in the future, when she has to find out where to send me back to make sure you do all the right things. I'll get straight to the point."

The woman gave a huff and sat down on a rickety chair. She looked nothing like the cultivated picture of Aes Sedai Serenity that had been described to her. If she was from the future, and of that Lilen had little doubt as there was _no one _who could find her here, without knowledge she had _not_ given, then it was likely that she had little to lie about.

Plus, oddly, she seemed to carry not a trace of Saidar. It didn't even feel like she could channel. Very odd indeed.

"Right now the White Tower is under attack." Moiraine began.

"Pha!" Lilen scoffed. "I know all about that."

"I doubt it. The rebels and the Sisters loyal to the Tower have bonded together to fight off some unknown menace."

Lilen blinked. She hadn't expected that. "But _you _know what it is. Of course you do. You're from the future."

"Correct." The woman replied, without a hint of remorse.

"So why come to me? Let the Aes Sedai burn, I say. They will be nothing against the power of the Dark One with their pathetic _oaths, _barring their way._" _Lilen replied harshly, making her words sting, and instantly regretting it. She wished not to be Moghedien… but the years of servitude to the Dark One would not grow out of her eyes and her tongue overnight.

That she knew.

"There is something you must do. If the unknown creature attacking the tower fails… or… decides to stop it's attack, then the White Tower will bond together and become a true pillar of light and strength to bar the Dark One's way in the months to come before Tarmon Gai'don. If the tower falls, all will be lost." Moiraine told. Even as she spoke, though, she scoffed, as if she had trouble believing her own words.

"And… what can you do to prove that I should trust you?" She replied.

The woman grinned. "My knowing where you are, _who_ you are is a strong indicator but if it is proof you seek..." Moiraine trailed off and closed her eyes with a slight smirk on her face. In high chant she began to recite words of old. Words long forgotten.

"_Woe fades to the planet begott. The one of two who circumfri'te Luna. Woe fades to the planet trenched in depths of boundless mord. For praise be'to she who forsaketh all, to remain forever posted, a jailor for the Light Ripper. She, who waits in the dark, ev'r, unto fore ev'r, till the wheel spins its rung, or ceases endless turns. Woe be'not'to the Senshi of the planet begott. Is yet your name lost to time? Woe be'not'to land poisoned with the shadow of Light Ripper. Is yet your name lost to time?"_

Lilen almost choked. Old words. So _old_. Old as the very first white queen, when she had decided that the only way to stop the Dark One was to seal him away. Seal him away within her planet. Lilen's planet. And then, seal her planet away within space that even the gates of time could not see.

Tears began to leak from her eyes, as she realized and remembered. And spoke.

"_It is not lost. It is not lost yet, my queen. I stand watch, as I have ev'r unto fore ev'r. I am Gaia." _

She couldn't tell if she had whispered the words or screamed them. Dialects and meanings of old words shifted and corrupted with time. Words from the days of the Wars of the Moon. The days of Halcyon, Shackler of Worlds. Days before the White Queen was considered a being of good. When the very name, Halcyon could strike fear into the hearts of men, rulers of planets, and even gods.

Her very best friend. Dead so many millennia ago, but living on within the blood of her daughters and their daughters after them. Halcyon. The first White Queen.

"I… How old… am I?" She thought. It was only at the barked laugh of the other woman that Lilen remembered she was even there.

"Even Pluto doesn't know that. You are older than her gates. Halcyon's power lives in your veins as it has since long before the gates of time were created, and slowed the time of this world. Now… do you trust me?"

Barely a moment of pause. Lilen nodded her head. Yes. She trusted this woman. If this woman told her to leap to her death into the fires of Shayol Ghul, she would do it, and know that what she did was right, and true.

"Good. Then. I have a gift for you. It was quite the chore to fetch it from the depths of Tar Valon, especially in the middle of the battle they're in but I got it. See? Remember? Your talisman, Lilen Moiral."

From nowhere appeared a trinket that Lilen well remembered. A long, winding, golden horn.

The Horn of Valere.

In shock, Lilen stared at the woman.

Moiraine only smiled, handing the horn to her as if passing a babe.

"I will tell you what you must do."

Lilen listened.

* * *

Akane Tendo, felt fear the likes of which she had never known. Not for herself. She had long forgotten the need for the emotion as fear for her own life. Drained from her when the life of Akane Tendo itself faded from Setsuna's lightning, what seemed such a short yet long time ago.

No. Her fear lay now in the monster that destroyed her city. Her fear lay now for the daughter she had never met. The daughter resting somewhere in the very city she resided in.

But those lingering in the world of dreams could not touch the living. No. She had to wait for the wheel to spin her to life once again, and by the time she was grown, her Keika would be an old maid, or dead… And she would have no memory.

So she did the only thing she could.

She cried. The power, Saidar, in all its wonder, could not help her here. Here, when all she wanted to do was protect her daughter from whatever monster it was ripping buildings from the ground and leaving craters and rubble in their wake.

Tel'Aran'Rhiod reflected the world of the living. What existed there, existed here. But not. People sometimes fell into the world of dreams in their sleep. But only for a sparse second. Perhaps two if they were unlucky.

And Akane watched as the buildings and houses of Tar Valon were there, and then simply gone before her eyes leaving craters in her wake.

One other time had she seen such madness in the world of dreams. One other.

The breaking. Lews Therin Telemon and the hundred madmen who destroyed the world while she lay dead in her grave, watching silently and able to do _nothing!_

So she cried. She cried with fear and terror and hope that somehow her daughter would survive this… and somehow, she would be able to find the girl. The girl who was her child, grown. Find a mention of her. A note. A letter. Some way to know, after all of this… this madness, was over with. She hoped only that she could find her.

The chances were slimmer than none. What hope could her child have against whatever these monsters were that attacked Tar Valon with such hatred?

It could only be him. The man tied to the wheel of whom she had never met. The Dragon Reborn. Lews Therin Telamon was attacking Tar Valon… and she couldn't do _anything._

She felt lower then dirt. Glancing up, tears trailing down her eyes, she stared at a newly crafted gaping hole in the White Tower.

"_Nothing." _She murmured to herself, hatefully. "I can do _nothing!"_

"Don't be so sure."

Akane jerked, fearfully, whipping her head left to right to find the voice. There was no one.

"Wh… Where are you?" She demanded hotly, rising to her feet, and embracing the source, bathing herself in enough of Saidar to make hurricanes quiver for fear of what she might create.

"You do not remember the what the Horn of Valere means do you, Lelind. Tamra. Akane? All of these names are yours. And yet none of them are. The Horn of Valere is my trumpet. The grave _**is**_ no bar to my call. On my planet. On my home, _I decide_ who is to live, and who is to die."

Akane didn't know what to say. Who was this faceless voice? "_Who _are you!?" She demanded, more hotly this time.

"I was given power over death, long ago to combat the same power which the Dark One holds. The grave is no bar to my call. Rise Aulita Tremorwill. I call you to life once more."

Akane screamed. There was pain. Pain unending; so unbearable that she could not see nor hear nor think. And then there was light. The nothing. Then light again.

Then… a dark sky. Screams… And the feeling of wind on her face.

In shock, Akane touched her face to feel the strange sensation of true skin. Felt her breath on her hand and realized that it was real. Staring around she saw the same scene she had beheld within Tel'Aran'Rhiod… but brimming with a color and life that could only be that of reality.

Reality.

_Reality!  
_

She was… She was _alive! _

"Oh Kami… by the Creator… Light be praised… I am _alive!" _She screamed, in joy. A single joyful scream among thousands of terrified ones. But she didn't care. By some miracle she was alive! And that meant…

She saw it.

Her eyes raised to the sky, they fell upon the giant roaring inferno, a sphere of fire hovering and billowing in anger. Tendrils of flame lancing off it, flinging themselves into buildings and exploding. Running through terrified people, burning them to cinders and ash and bone before continuing on to burn still others. Hundreds. Thousands of white comet like flames traversing the air.

The smell of terror.

But one overwhelming feeling that engulfed them all.

It was not the Dragon Reborn that laid his power against the might of Tar Valon.

No.

It was the love of her life. Her last life. It was… Ranma.

Her feet took flight. And she found her voice.

"_RANMA!!"

* * *

_

**End Chapter

* * *

**

_Author's Notes:_

Yeah. I'm finally back. Sorry bout the cliffie! ; Enjoy your seven month wait till I get up the motivation to finish this off! Heh heh.

So one thing to say to all those readers who think i'm sick for keeping Ranma a girl for so long?

Here's your damn present! Jeeezsh! You'd think no one likes Ranma-chan anymore...

...

Ehem... now that I got that outta my system...

Sorry.

Right. I was supposed to finish this fic here. But NO! I keep needing to write a bit more to get the whole thing down right. Fortunately, there isn't much left, but still too much to fit into this chapter. Plus I've been getting complaints about the monumentou length of my chapters so this one is shorter and the next will be even shorter yet to wrap up this book. Probably eight thousand words, but it will also include what will likely be a three thousand word epilogue.

Yes. The next chapter will be the final installment of "The Mark in the Lace."

Compai!

Then I will go on to the final book of this series. Yeah. I decided to turn it into a trilogy. Sue me. Biidah!

I still feel like I'm not quite conveying the epicness right but I hope you guys enjoy. I know I said it would be out quick but writer's block really bit me in the ass if ya know what I mean. I keep wanting to finish this up but I can't do it without rushing or making chapters of lengths that are more epic then the story itself and… and… and…! I'm sorry okay!?

So I know this is probably the biggest cliffie I've ever given. So I'll be nice and give hints to the future.

I think the next chapter will be almost entirely Akane, Ranma, and Keika's POVs. It will most likely have a bit of Ryoga/Rei romance, and we'll finally see how Rand's doing over with Happosai! And remember those Almonric Scriptures from forever ago, waaaah back in chapter seven or eight of "So Be It"? Yeah. They're still around too. They mean big things for the Senshi. Heh heh.

We'll get a bit more on the Blood Angel. You don't know who that is yet, but you've met her before. She doesn't have a title yet either but, yeah. She'll get one.

And of course, a bit more info about miss Halcyon, Shackler of Worlds. GOD She's fun to write!

Welcome back Akane! Till death and beyond, do us part, nevermore!

Till Next!

MB


	9. All is Joy

_In the distance, beyond the furthest ocean, beyond the stalwart gates of ages, A light still shines! Daughter of the Creator, she comes! Cursed one, born of man, bred as man, she cries and the foundations of the world tremble. She laughs and nations weep in joy. Rejoice O People of the world! For the Joybringer, Daughter of the Light will be born again.  
_

_From the Almonrik Scriptures  
Halcyon, Shackler of Worlds_

**Chapter Eight: All is Joy**

Egwene al'Vere heard screams from almost every direction. The Amyrlin's study was much like it had always been in the World of Dreams, but Tel'Aran'Rhiod had a way of making things seem a bit less real. People flashing about to and fro randomly appearing, just slightly touching on the fringes of that hidden world and then lapsing back into their normal sleep, dissappearing like ghosts, made it clear that the World of Dreams wasn't truely reality.

Not as this was now. Despite the shouts of terror filled citizens and the screams of Aes Sedai, the sounds of war and fires, Egwene could not help but feel a sense of comfort. She was home. This was where she belonged. Tar Valon was in her blood now. The buildings sung to her. The masonry of the builder's echoed loudly in her ears and the weight of her burden, always laying down on her shoulders like a great mastiff, eased if only in the slightest bit, by finally entering the place that was and would always be _hers. _

The room they had walked into was somewhat dank with decay and age... and rats littered it. Elaida had seen fit to discard the room as rubish prefering to move herself higher up in the tower, to signify her own greatness or something idiotic like that. The room had once been the meeting hall of Siuan Sanche, the previous Amyrlin seat, and Elaida had _hated _her. Egwene's eyes narrowed at the thought. The twit of a woman. Elaida was a fool, but she had been able to gather a strong enough backing to usurp Siuan and have the woman stilled. It would not do to underestimate her.

Even without the Red Aes Sedai's wit, the sounds of screaming were an indication that she was powerful, at the very least. A great many of those frantic yells had the deep narrow scrawl of the woman's voice to them, as if she were trying to fight the beast alone.

"Light bless her, if she can kill it..." Egwene thought, "but the White Tower is _mine." _

"Mother?" Siuan questioned lightly. It was so strange, even now, to hear the ex-Amyrlin call her 'Mother,' in the exact same way she had once called the woman, little more than a year ago. But the wheel weaves, as they say.

Egwene turned to the group of woman gathered behind her. They were among her strongest, though admittedly, Siuan and Leane were not quite the greatest of them, their strength in the power having been greatly diminished. They were here because of their unswavering loyalty. If anyone were to stab her in the back... if any were Black Ajah among them, at least she knew she would have those two.

_'Don't trust anyone. Not even me fully.' _Siuan's own words. The woman had taught her the ways of the Amyrlin, after she had been raised to the stole, and now it was the entirety of her being. She would rule and take the White Tower to Tarmon Gai'don itself, and she would bring it back whole, or die trying.

Now she stared into the ex-Amyrlin's questioning eyes, and tried to understand how they had once seemed so very old to her. Youth radiated from them now. Love, too. Siuan had managed to fall in love. It almost made Egwene laugh when she thought about it. Well, at least the woman knew how to choose. One of the legendary generals. _Her_ general, in particular. Oh yes. A fallen Amyrlin Seat could do _much_ worse.

"Yes, Daughter. I know. We fly." She replied calmly, but her inner thought's were another matter. 'Light! She's twice if not three times my age! It has been over a year and it still seems so _strange_!'

Steeling herself. Egwene focused on the task at hand. The White Tower was under attack. She hardly knew what it was, but she knew that it was bright... like a fire, shining mid-day across the land from the midst of the city all the way to the jagged slopes of Dragonmount. It had awoken every sleeping guard, and sent the ones who had actually been awake scrambling to report. The camp just outside the great city had become uproarious from the first instant.

Aes Sedai scouts were sent to the walls via traveling almost instantaneously, and their reports had been grave.

The west harbor was little more that rubble, debris, and wet plywood floating in the depths of the river Erinin. A single entity, a ball of white light, sending tiny pieces of itself hurtling throughout the city, indescrimintely slaying all that could not stop them. None were spared. From children, women, and even babies, to the strongest of the warders and Aes Sedai, the firelights slew everything that lived, ramming living beings through, and burning them alive.

Many of the scouts sent had not returned.

The women followed Egwene as she exited the dank room and briskly paced into the winding halls of the Lower Tower. They were silent, content following her at the moment, though Romanda, of the yellow ajah, and Lelaine, of the blue, surely grumbled the entire way. Both were equally strong and near enough close to her to have wanted the seat of the Amyrlin for themselves. Even so, they followed. The risk to the tower was too great for petty squabbling now.

Fly they did. Egwene paced through the tower, up bending flights of stairs without pause in the direction of the uppermost balcony. Scullions and kitchen maids, many panicking in terror, fled in utter shock at their procession. Some recognized her as the girl who had once learned here. At least they thought they did. But her eyes were schooled hard into the look of firm serenity. Egwene, Aes Sedai was so different from the Egwene al'Vere, the Novice, she might as well have been a different person entirely.

But she did remember her roots, at least. She remembered a small village. An innkeeper's daughter. Apprenticed to the Wisdom, the village healer. Dancing around the pole at Bel'Tine. Waiting for the peddler at the start of spring. Fireworks... A sheepherder she once loved, who had now grown to become the Dragon Reborn. Things long gone... things that the world would never remember. For all the writings that may one day come of her... the memories of an innkeeper's daughter would never be recorded.

'Strange thoughts...' She mused. But she supposed, they were because she was afraid. Excited, and afraid. Was she going to her death? Or, was she going up to face one of the Dark One's minion, fling it down, and then become Amyrlin all in one fell swoop...? Worse... if she _did_, would she be any better than Elaida?

Those behind her seemed to have faith at least. Even Romanda and Lelaine to some extent. Each had conceded their own surprise at just how unmanipulatable she had turned out to be. That was why they had raised her, barely an accepted, to the rank of Amyrlin. They had wanted to push her. An Amyrlin that the hall could control, to throw up against Elaida while they made the real decisions.

What they had received was anything but. Now, they knew it, but strangely, they seemed to accept. Grudgingly, they all had to concede at some point that maybe this was what they had needed all along. An Amyrlin who could bear the weight of Tarmon Gai'don and all it represented. The end of an age. The end of the world... of the light itself?

Who could say?

Up flight after flight of stairs they traveled, the screams of Elaida and her circle of Aes Sedai grown louder and more desperate by the moment.

"Link with me," Egwene demanded, and even as she spoke, she embraced the true source. Awe filled her, as it always did. Surrendering to a torrential river of calm bliss that always held just on the brink of sweeping her away. Her thoughts focused and she fused her power with those around her, reaching through each of them to touch the One Power. They bonded, the flows each multiplying the potential power she could draw on Saidar. She felt the control of the link float to her, and she grasped it, even as her pace increased. Another door. Another.

As they rose up the stone steps she began to notice holes in the walls, surely crafted by the flames bursting through them. Rubble began to decorate the once immaculate staircases. Rarely, the body of a liveried servant, or a youngling, or even an Aes Sedai, lay crumpled on the ground, their body a carcass, seemingly burned from the inside. But Egwene could not wait. She could not.

Up. Ever up. She strode briskly. Never running. She was Aes Sedai. She was the Amyrlin Seat. Panic was not allowed.

Without warning, a wall burst open before her. She heard her Daughter's flinch behind her at the blast, but she did not move.

'No panic. None. Ever. You are the _Amyrlin._' She berated herself for even thinking of flinching.

Her eyes narrowed and she drew on the One Power. Surrounding the ball of flame in a simple bubble, snuffing out the oxygen, the firelight flickered almost instantly before dissipating. Even as the first evaporated, another flashed through the newly-blasted hole to take its place, flashing towards them seemingly searching for revenge for its fallen brother.

Egwene did not even stop her stride as she dispatched it as quickly as she had the first.

And that was the way of it. They continued onward, and ever more of the head-sized balls of fire appeared and were dispatched as quickly as they did. Egwene did not turn her eyes to catch those behind. She felt them as soon as they even grew near her, and dispatched them, some even before they were visible on the opposite sides of walls.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity of walking, she reached the uppermost floor. Giant arching doors, that had not resided here when she had been a novice denoted the Amyrlin's Study. Hmph. Elaida. Pompous witch. Did she _really_ make petitioners walk up all those stairs?

Not letting her anger touch her, deep within the calm of Saidar, she threw blasts of air at the arches and they flew off their hinges, jack-firing into the room, like stones from a sling.

They clanged loudly, lodged into the ceilings above, but Egwene couldn't care less.

Before her stood the backs of thirteen woman, each embracing as much as they possibly could, all of them shining with a _wave_ of the One Power.

At the head stood Elaida. Atop edge of the balcony's banister she stood, dark hair flapping in the wind, staring defiance into the face of a sun that filled every inch of Egwene's view, blotting the sky with Red and White swirling fire.

"_Die_!" The woman screamed, even as she threw cords of spirit like wildfire into the midst of the burning sun. Hundreds, upon hundreds of cords, each stronger than the last blasted forth from Elaida. Fueled by the power of her sitters, and her will to defend Tar Valon, she stood as a mountain to bar the ways of a crashing tsunami towering miles above.

But she would not falter.

For every weave of Saidar she sent to attack the great sun, ten bursts of fire were sent back at her, each crashing into a barrier of spirit and air. Elaida held that up as well, and Egwene could not help but feel a small bit of awe for the woman.

'You will try every bit as hard and harder. This woman is no match for you. _You_ are the Amyrlin.' Egwene thought to herself, mentally scolding.

Dashing, she broke through the woman to stand just behind Elaida, and began to weave her own columns of air and water. Ten strands of the source. Ten weaves. Thirty. A hundred. A hundred fourty. Each weave more intricate than the last and each weave twice as difficult to summon at the same time as the first, she began to wall away the fire from the air that allowed it to burn. Fire couldn't burn without air.

Then it began to attack her. Comets the size of a man's head began bashing into her nets. Trying to burn them to cinders but she would not let them. Each thread of Saidar that fell, a crisp of its previous form, she made five more. The great sun seemed confused, trying to send it's attacks towards Elaida's franting battering, and towards the net Egwene still weaved. It was like sewing cloth around a burning candle. Cloth with threads like steel, so tightly woven that even air couldn't slip through.

A hundred seventy. Two hundred and ninety! Slowly, the flames began to lessen as the air lost its touch.

"No! Y-You! What are you doing!?" Elaida screamed in fury, as she finally realized that among her sisters were those linked with Egwene.

"I am saving your life." Egwene replied. Calm. Calm. That was the way. Calm.

She closed her eyes. Fires began dashing towards her but she batted them away with the slightest nudge of air. Water should have destroyed this fire... but so high up, bringing water would never work. It had to be air. Air. Air and an unbreakable barrier.  
Four hundred strands at once! Each lacing into each other. Each squeezing the thing tighter.

The projectiles it blasted out each moment grew less. Its fires grew less. It shrunk!

Egwene let a small smile ripple on her face but she never let up her concentration. Never let up—!

"MAMA!"

The scream was that of a thousand needles stabbing into her ears, jolting her concentration awry. She slipped, the weaves falling away. "No!" She shouted, only an instant, but a flurry of fiery bursts exploded through the gaps in her airtight sphere.

Just as suddenly, a golden light, not white or red, slammed into sun from below, exploding and blinding her, bashing into her weaves of air with all the force of an ogier sized hammer. Dazed, she realized that she wasn't on her feet. She shook her head and stood as fast as she could, the jerk of losing hold on so many weaves at once dazing her. But she couldn't give up… she couldn't! Dizzily, she stood, striding back to the wall to meet the thing.

Elaida was still standing! And... and the woman was...!?

For the briefest instant, the eyes of dark haired woman, and her own, connected. The woman was beaten. She was tired, but she was not dead. Not till the tower fell would she die. And Egwene felt the same. Together. Together. Instantly she set to work, joining Elaida in weaving. Elaida sent her own weaves of air through laces that she had been growing already. Hundreds upon hundreds now, the ball of air surrounding this flaming beast grew.

The flames flickered. Egwene batted away the blazing comets like flies. She weaved, walls air and bursts of water, snuffing out the burning weapons hundreds at a time. Eliada, her own circle weakened, and half of them slumping over with weariness, still managed to pull with tremendous power on the source. With all her might she concentrated on weaving, each new lace of air wrapping the flames just that much tighter. The flames died, and died… and died. Egwene's eyes began to widen in shock as she slowly discovered what was held within.

_'A Man!? A single Man? Is he one of the forsaken!?' _She thought, in shocked terror. A single man? Could... could do all of this!? L-Light!

Black hair, and blue eyes that screamed hate, began to appeared within the shrinking flames of the sun. He held his breath, and his eyes locked eternally with those of Elaida in a battle of wills. He hated her. He hated her, so much that Egwene didn't know how the woman wasn't crying with terror. Such hate could not...

"My daughter! My Keika!" The man screamed, his voice hoarse. "You killed her...! You kill--!"

"MAMA!" Came another of the gut wrenching cries but this time, Egwene was ready. She braced herself and the weaves held firmly against the onslaught of another blast of the golden light from below.

'Light!' She thought wearily. 'Is someone down there throwing fire at the thing!? Fools!' What else could it be? There was nothing she knew of that made light so bright. Impacting against her own weaves, whatever the thing was, it barely harmed the man held in midair by some force she could not see or feel. Exploding in a blast of light against the barrier she had woven to keep the man from breathing, she could barely shield her eyes from the blast. But the weaves were clear as thunder. Bright as the sun itself.

"The light burn you!" Elaida burst out. Egwene's eyes only barely recovered, flecks of light dotting her vision. But still she weaved.

Another burst of fires erupted, less this time. Less. But she was growing weaker.

She sent a wall of air weaved in haste flowing towards it, and was shocked to find the fires banding together! They gobbled the flows, burning them as if they never were. Letting her focus on weaving around the man himself, Egwene focused on the fires. What was happening? Were they… were they _learning?_

Three fires flashed towards her as the others in the group scattered. A weave of spirit and one of the fires simply ceased to be. Another. Ano—!

Leane's voice. Screaming. Screaming. She jerked her head, her eyes widened in terror. Leane! Leane!

One of the thirteen women with whom she reached through for the source flailing in agony, Egwene felt her power dwindle as the woman burned, white fire erupting from within her chest, spewing crisped body innards across the room, the fire within her exploding outward leaving nothing but a burning blackened carcass of what was once the Keeper of the Chronicles.

"Oh light… Leane...!" She whispered, an echo of Siuan just behind her.

Focusing her cold fury into channeling, she drew more strongly on the source. More strongly than she ever had. It felt incredible! She wanted more! And more! And ever more! In an instant she had drawn more than should be safe. But it wasn't enough. It had to be destroyed! Eradicated! She would scourge this blackened man from the face of this world. No quarter!

She cut a hole within her own weaves, to Elaida's horror, and she watched the man's eyes widen in surprise, as breath seeped into his lungs.

"Die Shadowspawn!" She cursed hatefully. This thing would die. This thing would DIE!

Pulling in all her strength, she wove balefire…

* * *

It was all Elaida could do not to gape openly. So many weaves… Egwene could handle… so _many weaves!_ She'd never felt so humbled before in her life, but now was not the time. No. She would destroy this thing. And she would be every bit as much a part of it as the little child would. She thought she was Amyrlin… no. She wasn't.

But by the light, Elaida didn't think she knew one woman in the whole tower with more nerve. Egwene al'Vere's face might as well have been cast from iron. Staring down this flaming ball without so much as a flinch. She was…_ mighty_.

Elaida had never thought that of another woman. Not ever.

Until now.

It didn't matter though. _She _was Amyrlin. Did her flows not weave just as deftly? Did she not douse just as many of those damnable flames? No!

As she watched the other woman work, and desperately tried to keep up, fear began to take her. After this day, the tower would be united, or it would be destroyed. After this day. This hour.

Frantically, she batted away yet another white and red swirling comet, it's tail drizzling out of existence, much like blowing out a moving candle. A moving candle with a deadly grace that could kill as soon as touch. Leane? Was that what the girl behind her had exclaimed? Leane?

Elaida chanced a glance back. Romanda. Sheriam. Lelaine. Hard faces to be sure, but all fell short of the al'Vere girl now. And…

Elaida's eyes widened in momentary shock. Ageless or not, Elaida would _never_ forget the face of Siuan Sanche. The woman she'd deposed as Amyrlin. The woman saw her glance and glared. Egwene held the weaves, so all Siuan had to do was embrace Saidar and give as much as she could to the circle, so at least Siuan couldn't hurl her power at Elaida while her back was turned.

Her power…? Embrace Saidar!? Siuan had been stilled. _Stilled! _How in the light was she…!? That wasn't a matter for now. No. It wasn't. 'Fool woman.' She thought at herself, harshly. 'Death stares you in the face and you are worrying about why a stilled woman can channel!? Fool!'

Another three fireballs were batted away, but suddenly, Elaida felt her weaves pushed aside. The girl… NO! Egwene had been a genius, wrapping the thing in flows of air so tight the fires couldn't get the air to breathe … but now she was opening the hole! Wait… what was she..?

Suddenly, all of Egwene's other weaves were tied off, and left to hang there, leaving a foot wide hole within the bubble of air. Something began to coalesce in the girl's hand. A… light…?

An explosion, like that of a gong larger than the tower itself, erupted in Elaida's ears; like sound that was not sound blanketing everything. Yelling ceased. _Everything ceased. _Silence before a storm that could wrack the world. So loud that she heard nothing. Then, from Egwene's hand a bar of searing white light blinded Elaida, blasting into the hole the girl had cut in the weaves. She shielded her eyes. What under the light was…?

The light faded as instantly as it had come, and sound returned. Elaida just caught the end of Siuan voicing "No!" as her hearing truly came back, but she saw nothing but the Accepted's hard eyes. No… this woman _was_ Aes Sedai if anyone was. Whoever wore the stole at the end of the day, Elaida would show respect for Egwene al'Vere.

To her shock, Elaida suddenly realized that _all_ the fires had ceased to be. All of them. Every last fireball had dispersed to the wind, and darkness lay in front of the balcony where all their battle had occurred.

"W-We did it…" Egwene breathed as she turned to face Elaida and meet her eyes for the second time. "It's dead; _he _is dead. Whatever he wa—!"

A bar of red light suddenly bloomed into being. "Egwene!" Elaida barely had the time to shout before the bar, brimming with red and white fires, blasted…

It was with shock that Elaida stared. A hole existed, where Elaida could see straight through Egwene al'Vere's stomach. The woman blinked… staring down at the hole in her chest. Skin baking… white and red burning fire began to lick at her chest, seemingly blooming from within her.

Tears came to Elaida's eyes. This ally… taken so soon? She'd only just met… but… Egwene had saved her life with her arrival. Elaida knew she would be long dead had the girl not appeared. And now…?

"I guess the stole… wasn't meant for me…" The woman stated, a simple smile lay on her face. As death took her, unnatural fires, burning her from within. Oh light the woman was on _fire! _And she was _smiling! _How hard could she have become…?

Elaida could not watch the woman burn. Her eyes heated with flared anger, turning to the darkness, where she could just barely make out the figure of a man, glinting in the moonlight. Another red and white bar burst out of him, but this one towards the ground below. It exploded, and screams echoed up from a distance.

The monster had stolen Egwene's weapon… copied it.

He would _pay—!_

Abruptly the sound of a door bursting off its hinges, blasting apart behind her sounded. And a voice came. _"Ranma!"_

A scream… yet Elaida knew who that was. A woman dead. A woman… _long_ dead.

Elaida turned, slowly, and found herself face to face with Tamra Ospenya. The Amyrlin from when she was an Accepted… so many years ago.

Tamra's voice cracked. Her eyes blazed with a fury that matched Egwene's, though now the once black-haired woman was little more than a corpse, still burning in white flames. The light of saidar burned around the woman who had once been Amyrlin, so brightly that Elaida had to shield her eyes from the radiance, yet the woman's scream was so dry she must have come from a desert. But it was her…

The flames ceased, and Tamra ran to the balcony... and leaped.

"_RANMA!"_

Elaida was too shocked to move.

* * *

* * *

Ranma had been plagued by madness for so long, he hardly remembered what was real and what was fake. He was tired. He was angry. His daughter was dead… He would kill them! He would destroy them all!

All these things faded away. All these things turned to dust and ash. The door behind the woman who had killed his daughter exploded outward, and Ranma's eyes fell onto hers. At first, he denied what his eyes told him. She could be here! It wasn't possible! He'd seen her die! He'd… he'd _seen her die! _He was certain!

But here she was… here she was now. Akane. Akane Tendo. The woman of his yesterdays, of his tomorrows.

"_Ranma!" _The girl exclaimed, out of breath, her voice raw, eyes glistening, and shimmering with a blue fire that could outshine the sun itself. But this girl was no fire. No… this was… _this was…!_

She leapt out off the balcony to him. Time seemed to slow. Everything seemed to slow. She fell towards him, jumping off the impossibly tall tower, to him. To him! She was here! She was real!

"_RANMA!"_

Everything seemed to move at an ant's pace. She seemed to move through the air as if she were wading through mud, and he realized that he too was dashing towards her. Towards her… He was screaming her name. He had to get to her! He _had to!_ She was here… she was _alive!_

After what seemed an eternity, their finger's touched, high above the city of Tar Valon. And together, they embraced. And they fell.

"Akane."

He was somewhere else. The world tuned out, and all that existed was he, her, and the mist of morning. They stood beneath a bridge, by a canal. Ranma remembered the place. His favorite place, once. But that was different now. Now his favorite place was anywhere she was. All he could see was her. She wrapped her arm around his waist, laying her head on his shoulder and quirked her head, and tingle, and a smile. "Ranma."

"Y-You're alive…" Ranma stuttered, his eyes shocked and joyous at the same time. "How are you…?"

Her fingers touched his lips, silencing him. "I love you… Ranma."

Were there words? Were the words to convey such emotion? Tears began to well in his eyes and he wiped away those formed at the sides of hers with a gentle thumb.

"I love you Akane."

His lips touched hers; they kissed. Passion. Ecstasy. Emotion. Raw emotion encircled him, overwhelmed him, so much that he felt his heart would burst. Akane. Akane! His Akane! Alive and well and in his arms! He could fly forever! It seemed an eternity that their lips touched, but it would never be enough. Not until his dying day and beyond could he ever have enough of her!

Bliss.

Abruptly, as their lips parted, the world around faded into existence and he realized that they were falling, plummeting headfirst to the streets of Tar Valon, below the tower.

And instantly, he became _aware. _And if it were possible, his joy _doubled, _as a familiar feeling washed over him. A sense of someone near. Someone he loved.

Keika. She was alive. _Oh light,_ Keika was alive!

A golden bullet careened towards them, a weak thing, as all his daughter's ki abilities were compared with himself, but far stronger than any Ranma could ever remember her creating before. Ranma batted the thing away in glee, holding Akane as close to him as he could, and dashed towards the source of the golden blast. They were both alive. They were _both alive!_

He could hardly breathe, so great was his rapture. Ranma's eyes found his daughter as he flew, and he blasted towards her, gleeful at the way Akane clung to him, bawling into his shoulder, her own heart bursting in happiness at their impossible reunion. And… and… Keika!

"_How could you!?" _Came his daughter's scream. He knew it was her. He heard her voice. He smelled her anger. He… he had _found _her!

"How could you do this, Mama!?" The girl screamed. "_How could you!?"_

Ranma wasted no time with words. He pulled out a hand and grappled the girl around the waist, holding her as close as he had the girl's mother, flying onward without pause, burying his face in the girl's shoulder. "Keika… I'm so glad you're alive. Keika!" He bawled, wailing into the girl's shoulder, blurring over anything she had to say.

She was alive. Light be praised… She lived. His daughter lived.

Keika was openly shocked. "Wh-who are..? Y-you aren't… _MAMA?" _The girl exclaimed, shocked surprise wrapping around her face. Ranma stared down into the girl's eyes, a smile so wide that he didn't think it was possible. Tears streamed down his cheeks and he could scarcely find the words, his eyes filtering from Akane, to Keika and back again. What could he do...? What words would ever show be enough? "I'm so glad you're… I-I'm so glad..."

Overcome with glee knowing the girl didn't even recognize him in this form, not caring, he burst into the sky, delighted at the frightened jumps the two women in his arms gave. His world boiled. His skin felt aflame with the heat of his joy, and he let his power flow all around. The world erupted in white light. Laughing as dawn just began to rise on the horizon, Ranma blasted away from Tar Valon, a tail of white fire and ki, glistening behind him.

* * *

In the streets of the city, thousands, tens of thousands of dancing fireballs of the purest white, spawning from a tail of fire blasting away from the ruined city of Tar Valon to the south, flitted about happily from corpse to corpse.

And all around, the dead rose. All around, the dead were born again.

Everywhere, the people's fear was washed away. Their terror drained and their panic quelled. The fires touched them. Caressed them, as if touching a long lost friend. A brother. A daughter. A lover. Filling every heart with the joy. The joy that was left.

Filling every heart with bliss.

The weaves of Aes Sedai fell apart and melted away against these strange, pure white spheres, burning just as their predecessors had. Terror took hold of the people once more in the moments before they expected their deaths to come, burning in flames. Yet the white fires entered them with a calm touch. Not meant to harm, but only to share the joy left behind.

Burned bodies blurred, lighting again; charred skin grew over the remains of blackened skeletons. Breath seeped into the lungs of those who had been dead for hours. Hair grew on balded, burned scalps. Eyes, melted from sockets grew back, bobbled and rolled into place. Everywhere. Everywhere! The dead rose. Stone began to flow back to its place, where comets of red and white had destroyed before, the purest white returned, restored, and regenerated all. Rubble that had crushed bodies beneath it blended back into the masonry where the bodies below began to fill with life. Bones mended. Ligaments reset. Joints reconnected. Severed body parts sewed themselves back together with every touch of the white lights.

More! Those lamed all their lives without limb grew anew. Men who had lost eyes in this war or that, found themselves seeing once more. Lepers felt the blisters on their skin bubble away and become no more. All. All, restoring! Rebirthing!

And in every man, every woman, joy burned like a flame. Brigand or Aes Sedai. King, or Novice. Innskeeper or Amyrlin Seat herself.

The dawn came.

All was joy.

* * *

_And men and women together did cry unto the heavens saying "O Light, and the Creator, blessed are you who sends your hand to shield us from the dark. Blessed are you who sends your daughter into the world among us. Blessed is the She who Dances the flames, she who binds us and strengthens us for the dark which is to come. Creator, bless the Joybringer, your daughter. For without her, without you, we would be no more than ash and dust on the winds of time."_

_Turei Minneova__  
Watcher of the Seals__  
Flame of Tar Valon  
The Amyrlin Seat_  
—The Fourth Age

* * *

**The End

* * *

**

* * *

_Author's notes: _

The Mark in the Lace is complete. Sorry the chapter was ridiculously short, but that was all I needed. I hope you've all enjoyed. It's been a pleasure to write.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the final sequel, "**The Last Day**" in which I will be the first to finish a wheel of time epic fanfic! (I hope)

Special thanks goes to Silence Darkness who preread for me for a while. Ozz. Mark. You guys are great! Google-Docs deserves some small nod here as well.

And a giant hug, thankyou and special thanks to all those who have reviewed and enjoyed reading my works over the years. I'm only as good an author as your criticism can make me, and I thank you for every oppinion, be they great or glum.

Your reviews are welcome and treasured. I'd love to hit three hundred at least and with the completion I know it's possible despite the shortness of this chapter.

I hope to see you all in my future endevours!

Till Next!

MB


End file.
